ABOVE: Global News has obtained video presented late Wednesday afternoon at the coroner’s inquest into the suicide of Lucia Jimenez while in CBSA custody. Lucia Jimenez was found hanging in a holding cell while awaiting deportation at YVR last December.
VANCOUVER – Powerful new video was presented late Wednesday afternoon at the coroner’s inquest into the suicide of a Mexican woman while in CBSA’s custody.
Lucia Jimenez was found hanging in a holding cell while awaiting deportation at YVR last December.
The video is from a surveillance camera taken of a common area. At about 6:08 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2013, Jimenez can be seen walking out of her cell with a yellow sheet or a towel draped over her arm.
She then goes into the bathroom towards the back of the room and never comes back out.
More than 40 minutes go by, with no one checking on Jimenez, even though the policy is that the Genesis security guards were supposed to be checking on the immigration detainees every 30 minutes.
In the video some of the other detainees can be seen looking through the window of the bathroom door and they discovered Jimenez hanging. They then alerted the guards and Genesis guard Jivan Sandhu ran into the bathroom, calling for Jimenez.
That was at 6:51 a.m.
The guards tried to do CPR on Jimenez but it was too late.
The CBSA did not want the video released, citing security concerns, but failed to explain what the security concerns were. There was also supposed to be a female guard at the holding cell facilities, but she was not there that morning as she was doing a prison transfer.
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