SIRT report clears Sask. RCMP of wrongdoing after 35-year-old woman's 2023 death in custody

A woman who died shortly after being examined by emergency services in the wake of an arrest had a lethal combination of drugs in her body, according to a report from Saskatchewan's Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), which cleared the officers involved.

SIRT is the province's police oversight agency. Its investigators, which interviewed the officers, EMS personnel and close associates of the woman, found no evidence of wrongdoing by police, according to the report released Monday.

"There are no grounds to believe any police officer committed any Criminal Code offence during the course of this incident and no charges will be laid," the report says.

At approximately 7:50 a.m. CST on Dec. 5, 2023, RCMP responded to a 911 call requesting a wellness check at a home in Wilkie, Sask., about 160 kilometres west of Saskatoon. Officers were unable to find the subject of the call, a 35-year-old woman.

Then, at 9:32 p.m. CST, police received a second 911 call directing them to another home in the community. There they found the woman sitting at a table with drugs and several knives.

The woman was in distress and initially didn't let the responding police officer get close to her. She was brandishing a knife, but after an extended negotiation and de-escalation she was taken into custody, the report says.

Police chose not to charge the woman, instead administering mental health assistance, the report says.

The woman had a pre-existing cut on her forearm, which prompted police to call emergency services. After the ambulance arrived she walked to it on her own power and was examined inside it for approximately 20 minutes.

Police were advised that the woman was safe enough to return to custody, but she went into medical distress before she could leave the ambulance. She had no pulse and was transported to hospital in Unity, Sask., about 25 minutes away. 

She was pronounced dead by a doctor at 12:01 a.m. CST on Dec. 6.

The SIRT report states that the woman died as a result of combined drug toxicity. An autopsy found multiple drugs in her body, including an amount of cocaine "far exceeding the range typically associated with death," the report says.

The report states that the responding police officers followed procedure, demonstrating "significant restraint" through the course of their arrest and choosing not to pursue charges.

"The decision to proactively engage EMS to examine the affected person prior to her transport to hospital was made prior to any indication that the affected person was at risk of a serious medical episode," the report says. "Indeed, even following the completion of this proactive assessment, there was no indication of the affected person's impending medical distress.

"Accordingly, there is no reasonable basis to suggest that police neglected to adequately respond to the affected person's medical needs."