Brittney Irving - one year later

Photo: Contributed - Facebook

Shaun O'Neil and his ex-girlfriend Brittney Lee Irving, before she was murdered in April 2010.

Brittney Irving's ex-boyfriend and close friend, says he's haunted by a phone conversation he had with her the night before she vanished.

"She said, 'I'm going to meet someone that is a real bad person, and I'm scared of doing what I'm going to do. But this is the last time, don't convince me not to. I love you and pray for me,'" says Shaun O'Neil.

"That was the last I ever heard from her. For the rest of my life I'll regret not convincing her not to go."

Irving, who was addicted to OxyContin, had told O'Neil she was going to rehab later that day after making the final drug transaction.

O'Neil, who helped Irving to stay clean for seven months at one point, says he remembers his ex-girlfriend as someone who was full of life.

"She was sunshine at all points in time, she was always laughing, always smiling.  She had a way about her of just being on such a high level of energy that everybody loved to be in her presence."

Irving, who worked as a care aid, would often go in to work on her days off, says O'Neil.

"Not because she got paid to do it, but rather because she enjoyed the people she worked with."

Musician Greg Wood wrote a song for O'Neil about Irving, which brought all the memories back to the surface.

"She is incredibly loved and incredibly missed, I can only hope the Canadian justice system will do what it was built to do."

The preliminary trial date for the man accused of killing Irving has been set.

Joelon David Atish Verma, who is facing charges of first degree murder and robbery, will be back in court on January 3, 2012.

According to RCMP, Verma had met Irving to buy a 'large amount' of marijuana from her on April 6, 2010.

Verma is well known to police but has no criminal record.

Greg Wood's Song 'Fly Away'