Inquests called into deaths of men in Manitoba correctional facilities in 2020, 2021
Subjects of inquests include William Ahmo, in whose death a corrections officer was later acquitted
Inquests have been called into the 2020 and 2021 deaths of seven men in two Manitoba correctional facilities, the province said on Monday.
Those inquests include one into the death of William Ahmo, 45, who was shown on video repeating the words "I can't breathe" while officers swarmed and restrained him at the Headingley Correctional Centre in February 2021.
The altercation that led to Ahmo's death began as a prolonged standoff between Ahmo and corrections officers in a common room in the jail west of Winnipeg, and ended with Ahmo being sent to hospital in medical distress.
Ahmo was taken off life support a week later and died. His cause of death was determined to be a brain injury due to cardiorespiratory arrest, the provincial news release announcing the inquest said.
While Manitoba's chief medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, corrections officer Robert Jeffrey Morden was acquitted of criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessaries of life in September 2024.
Another inquest was called into the death of Jesse Thomas, 36, from the toxic effects of fentanyl and flualprazolam in November 2021 at Stony Mountain Institution, a news release said.
Thomas was found unresponsive and alone in his locked cell about a half-hour after he was seen sleeping and snoring during routine rounds that day. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and his manner of death was deemed accidental, the release said.
Inquests were also called into the deaths of five other men by suicide at Stony Mountain Institution in 2020.
Adrian Young, 39, and Patrick Eaglestick, 25, were both found in their cells during routine checks in March of that year. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful for Young, while Eaglestick was taken to hospital, where he died the following day, a news release said.
Farron Rowan, 32, was found during a routine check in April, while Curt Harper, 36, was found in his cell in May. Resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful for both, news releases said.
Melvis Owen, 38, was found in his cell during scheduled rounds in December. While resuscitation brought back a pulse, Owen died in hospital a few days later.
Information about the date, time and location of the inquests will be determined at a later date by the chief judge of the provincial court.