The civil engineering student murdered in Coalhurst on Saturday, Nov. 20 is remembered at Lethbridge College as good student and a gentle spirit.

          Jiwanjyat Singh Ghia, also known as “J.J.” by friends, was stabbed when trying to prevent a man from assaulting his brother outside of the Coalhurst community centre on Saturday night.

            He and his brother, Akash, were cleaning up after a Diwali celebration for which they and their family, who own an East Indian restaurant downtown, had been serving food.

            Doug May, one of Ghia’s instructors at the college, says that the loss is being acknowledged quietly by students.

            “They’re pretty subdued, fairly quiet. He had two friends he had been with through middle and high school. They’re definitely not themselves.”

Ghia was a second-year student in the program, set to graduate this spring.

He knew little to no English when he came to Canada in 2006, but is said to have communicated well in spite of it being a second language. He was raised in Ludhiana, India.

Ghia played football in high school and just turned 21 on Nov. 7. May recalls him as a “gentle soul.”

“He was a happy-go-lucky guy. He was a big guy but with a kind spirit.”

The suspect, 26 year-old Harpal Singh Dhillon, has since turned himself into police and made his first court appearance on Nov. 26. The case got remanded to Dec. 3.