BARRIE — Since 20-year-old Kassidi Coyle died by suicide in November, her grieving family has agonized over whether the man accused of sexually assaulting her months prior to her death would still face a trial.

On Thursday, a Barrie court heard that dates for a pretrial motion and a trial will be set next week.

Kassidi’s mother Judi Coyle is cautiously pleased that the Crown has decided there is enough evidence to proceed to trial, but the waiting and uncertainty combined with the still raw pain of losing her daughter has been “pure torture.”

“I know the courts take a long time,” she said. “But I’m not pleased it took them so long to figure this out.”

Shawn Roy, 38, was charged with sexual assault on July 1, 2016, when Kassidi was spending the night at a friend’s house.

She took her own life three months later.

Roy denies the allegations, his lawyer David Wilcox has said. A further closed-door pretrial discussion between the lawyers and a judge is set for late April.

Kassidi’s family and friends said she changed after the alleged sexual assault, becoming withdrawn and suffering nightmares. She was hospitalized twice after attempting suicide.

After the alleged sexual assault, Kassidi gave video statements to the police and had a rape kit done, Coyle said.

At a previous court appearance the Crown told the court a DNA warrant had been sought for Roy, who lives in Quebec and does not have to appear at the routine court appearances.

Whether Kassidi’s statements and other evidence such as a suicide note will be admissible at her trial remains to be decided.

According to legal experts, it’s unusual but not unheard of to proceed with a sexual assault trial where a complainant cannot testify.

Chelsea Coyle, one of Kassidi’s three older sisters, also attended the Thursday court appearance along with a group of Kassidi’s friends, all wearing T-shirts emblazoned with #justiceforkassidi.

The white and purple T-shirts were the idea of two of Kassidi’s friends, said Chelsea, 25. Proceeds from the sale of the T-shirts will go to Seasons Centre for Grieving Children in Barrie.

The fundraising has been a way of being proactive while also grieving the loss of her sister, she said.

“I think it’s amazing,” Judi Coyle said of the T-shirts. She remains shocked by how many responses from the community and around the world there have been to the media reports about her daughter.

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“I want everybody to hear Kassidi screaming from heaven ‘I’m still here,’” she said.

“I can hear her saying it, even from heaven. ‘I’m still here.’”