Christian Grayhorseman knew he was a wanted man.

So sure was he that his life was in danger, the last time they spoke on the phone, he told his mother, Roberta Gray, to say goodbye to his three sisters and a brother. 

In the weeks leading up to his death, Gray said she pleaded with her son to flee Edmonton and return to their family home in northern Alberta, but he refused.

On Boxing Day, the 20-year-old’s body was found in a ditch off the side of Sundance Road on the southern outskirts of Paul Band First Nation, west of Edmonton.

“I tried everything,” Gray said. “I stopped sending him money because I wanted him to come home. He wanted me to rent him a place in Edmonton, but I kept saying, ‘No, come home so at least I can keep care of you. Come home.’

“I didn’t know if he was going to die from the streets or the drugs and I didn’t want to support either. He knew he was going to die. He knew people were after him. I tried to get him out of the city.”

Born in Beaverlodge, Grayhorseman spent his early years growing up in Horse Lake before moving to Slave Lake and St. Paul. He spent most of his childhood in Peace River, Gray said.

At age 14 he left home and flitted between Grand Prairie and Loon Lake before moving to Edmonton in 2013, where he tried to get his life back on track after getting mixed up with the “drug crowd,” Gray said.

“At first, he tried to go legit in Edmonton, but nobody would let him because of the way he looked, because of the way he acted,” she said.

Grayhorseman got a job working for a siding and roofing company, Gray said, but soon “he met the wrong person.”

“He’d tell me that he was good, he was protecting me, but I told him, first thing, ‘Stay away from him, stay away from these people, son.’ ”

Gray said her son had links to notorious Edmonton gang Redd Alert.

On Wednesday, Mounties said they were treating Grayhorseman’s death as a homicide, but did not release any further details. 

Police wanted to speak to anyone with information on Grayhorseman’s activities and whereabouts in the days leading up to his death.

An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday.

Gray said her son would be buried in Loon Lake next to his father, who died two years ago. 

“He was like a father to my children, he was a very mature child,” Gray said.

“He was a gentle man and a gentleman. He would open doors for people, he would serve his girlfriend in bed when he was sick, bring her flowers even if he had to go pick them.

“He was a sweetheart. He was a momma’s boy.”