Inmate's mother looking to sue Sask. prison after son's alleged murder
Chris Van Camp sent back to prison days after coming out of drug overdose-induced coma
The mother of a man who was killed less than a day after being sent to prison in Prince Albert, Sask., is looking to sue Corrections Canada.
Lauren Laithwaite's son Chris Van Camp was allegedly killed by another inmate inside the Saskatchewan Penitentiary earlier this week.
RCMP have charged another inmate,Tyler Vandewater, with second-degree murder in connection with Van Camp's death.
Death result of bigger problem, says Laithwaite
Laithwaite does not believe her son knew his alleged killer and she has no details about how or why he was killed.
She says the bigger problem is that he was sent back to prison only days after recovering from a overdose that sent him into a coma.
"My son should have never been in that cell where he wasn't able to take care of himself due to [his] health," she said. "That's my main thing: If it was regular Chris in there healthy it would have never happened, never gone down."
Laithwaite said Van Camp, 37, was let out of prison about a year ago He had been serving time for armed robbery, fraud and theft.
She said her son suffered from a drug addiction, and a week before his death, he ended up doing a line of cocaine that was laced with fentanyl. He overdosed. He ended up in a coma for five days.
'System failed him"
After waking up from that coma, he was arrested and sent back to prison because he breached his parole conditions by doing drugs.
"The system failed him," said Laithwaite, "and his addiction and many other kids' addictions have to be looked at on a more deeper level than just having a 12-step program in jail."
Lee Anne Skene, the deputy warden at Saskatchewan Penitentiary, said she could not comment on Van Camp's medical condition.
In the wake of the murder charge, Laithwaite said she considering legal action against the prison.
Vandewater will appear in court next week in Prince Albert.