British Columbia

Funeral service for slain Oak Bay sisters set for today

The bodies of Chloe Berry, 6, and Aubrey, 4, were found in an Oak Bay apartment on Christmas Day. Their father has been charged with murder.

Chloe, 6, and Aubrey, 4, were found dead in their father's rental apartment on Dec. 25

The bodies of six-year-old Chloe Berry, left, and her four-year-old sister Aubrey, right, were found in an Oak Bay apartment on Christmas Day. (Submitted)

The funeral service for two Oak Bay sisters found dead in their father's apartment on Christmas Day will be held on Friday.

The death of Chloe Berry, 6, and Aubrey Berry, 4, prompted an outpouring of grief from the community.

Hundreds attended a candlelight vigil in their memory and Friday's service, which begins at 11 a.m. PT at Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria, B.C., is open to the public.

Reverend Ansley Tucker, the rector at Christ Church Cathedral, says the funeral service will be a way for people to share their deep grief.

"The ripple effect is enormous because this has captured the heart and imagination of a whole city and beyond," Tucker said.

An obituary for the girls described them as "happy, generous, warm, caring of their friends and imaginative."

Chloe was described as a keen artist with a love for horses, and her sister Aubrey, a wild spirit who loved the monkey bars.

A scholarship fund has also been set up in honour of the pair.

Donations through the Victoria Foundation will go to support students at Christ Church Cathedral School where Chloe Berry was a student.

Father charged

Police found the bodies of the young sisters on Dec. 25.

Andrew Berry, the girls' father, was found at the scene with injuries, taken to hospital and eventually charged with two counts of second-degree murder

Berry had been involved in an acrimonious custody dispute with the sisters' mother, Sarah Cotton, whom he had been separated from since 2013. The two girls had been spending time with their father on Christmas Day as allowed by their custody agreement.

Berry remains in police custody.

With files from Megan Thomas