The wife of a migrant worker, killed at a farm near St. Agatha in 2020, remembers her husband as the family’s pillar, and their security.

“Above all else, he was an exemplary father and a hero,” Ingrid Lupita Irene Morán Cal de Cahuec tells CTV News, through a Spanish interpreter. “He was a volunteer firefighter and always helped people in need.”

Ingrid still has many questions about her husband’s death, even after the man accused of killing him pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

“I don’t know the motive. I don’t understand. And all I ask, all I ask is that justice is done. This person, this person caused me a lot of pain.”

According to an agreed statement of facts presented in court, Luis Gabriel Cahuec Morán came from his home in Tactic, Guatemala to work at a dairy farm in Wilmot Township, starting in 2018.

Alex Lopez-Noriega, also from the same area of Guatemala, had been coming to work at the same farm since 2017, through the temporary foreign worker program.

There had been some tension between the two men, court heard. Lopez-Noriega accused Cahuec Morán of being lazy and neglecting work. Cahuec Morán said he was bullied by Lopez-Noriega.

The agreed statement of facts said the two men were drinking together during the afternoon and into the evening of July 28, 2020, when a fight broke out.

Surveillance video from the farm shows Lopez-Noriega following Cahuec Morán into a cornfield, around 8:54 p.m. Cahuec Morán had blood on his shirt, and Lopez-Noriega had blood on his hands and forearms. The video does not show anyone leaving the cornfield.

The agreed statement of facts goes on to say in the hours that followed, Lopez-Noriega spoke to and texted his wife as well as one of his employers. He told them he had fought with Cahuec Morán and gave him “a few hits.” He says Cahuec Morán then fell to the ground and hit his head.

Lopez-Noriega told his wife and employer he went into the house to change his clothes, but when he returned, Cahuec Morán was gone. He then became scared and left the farm.

Cahuec Morán was found dead in the cornfield in the early morning hours of July 29, 2020.

Lopez-Noriega was arrested at the Kitchener bus terminal at 9:11 a.m. that same day.

A pathologist’s report indicates that the cause of death was “blunt impact trauma in a man with ethanol intoxication.” It also describes multiple fractures, abrasions and lacerations on Cahuec Morán’s body.

Originally charged with first-degree murder, Lopez-Noriega pleaded guilty to manslaughter in November 2021.

During sentencing submissions, Lopez-Noriega’s lawyer, Liam O’Connor, told court the two men had complaints against each other, as happens in workplaces.

“There were sources of friction but nothing that could explain or justify what happened.”

Ingrid still wonders why her husband was killed, and said she may never know.

She said she spoke with him just hours before he died, as the couple were in constant communication.

“In the last call we had together, it was sweet. There were smiles, there was joy,” she said, adding they knew he cared for them and loved his children, and he was sorry he wasn’t there.

The couple were together for 14 years, and had three children together. Ingrid said they had plans for their family that will never be realized.

She is also worried about their financial future, concerned her job will not be enough to provide for them.

“He was always working to fight for his children and give the best for them,” she said. “Why did this person take it all away?”

She said the children continue to struggle.

“We had to take them to therapy because at night they were sad and crying, especially my seven-year-old who stays awake crying who wants to see their father,” she says.

The couple’s 14-year-old daughter, Katherine Cahuec, said she will never forget her father.

“I remember him as a responsible man, who was always thinking about his family. Who always wanted to know what we were doing, who loved us immensely. And he was the best father there was.”

Ingrid said she is hoping for justice, and that Lopez-Noriega ruined her family. She hopes his sentence reflects what he did.

“The only thing I ask is that justice is done. That’s all I’ve asked for since this started,” she said. “I know, no matter how many years in prison he gets, I won’t ever be able to see my husband.”

During sentencing submissions Wednesday, Lopez-Noriega’s lawyers told court he is extremely remorseful. They said he was an exemplary worker who had no history of alcohol or drug abuse and no prior criminal record.

The defence also asked the judge to consider the systemic challenges faced by migrant workers, including isolation, lack of autonomy and difficult working conditions.

The defence is asking for a sentence of six years, saying it should recognize the seriousness of the offence but also the potential for rehabilitation.

The crown will make sentencing submissions at a later date.