A public inquest that was to start today into a teen’s death at a secure custody youth facility in Saskatoon has been postponed.
In July 2015, the 17-year-old was taken from the Kilburn Hall Youth Centre to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
READ MORE: Inquest to be held into the death of teen being held at Kilburn Hall
The inquest is being rescheduled because an expert witness was unavailable and one of the lawyers raised some questions about evidence.
A new date has not been set.
The youth’s mother told a Saskatoon media outlet at the time of her son’s death that he had asked staff to take him to hospital because he wasn’t feeling well.
She said she called the centre after she spoke to him on the phone, but didn’t get anywhere.
The mother told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix that her son, who was associated with a Saskatoon street gang, had been taken into custody a few days earlier after he ran away from a court-ordered drug treatment program.
She said he’d been at Kilburn Hall before that for a series of robberies.
“The night before, (he) called me. He was talking very, very fast and he told me, ‘Mom, I’ve been up for 12 days. I don’t feel good. I asked them to take me to hospital and they wont,'” she told the newspaper.
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She said she believed he died from consuming some kind of drug. Her son was on prescription medication, she said, and she believed he’d also taken some street drugs before his death.
Saskatchewan Justice spokesman Drew Wilby said in the days that followed that foul play was not suspected. He would not confirm the cause of death.
The purpose of an inquest is to establish who died, when and where, and the medical cause and manner of death. The coroner’s jury can also make recommendations to prevent further deaths.
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