The family of Lionel Desmond is scheduled to meet with representatives from the Nova Scotia Health Authority on Wednesday morning in Antigonish, N.S.
Desmond, 33, was a military veteran who served in Afghanistan. In January, he fatally shot his mother Brenda, 52, wife Shanna, 31, and their 10-year-old daughter Aaliyah, before turning the gun on himself.
READ MORE: How can we hope for change?’: N.S. avoids public scrutiny in high-profile deaths
Desmond’s family said he sought help at Saint Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish N.S., the day before the triple-murder suicide — but was turned away.
The province’s health authority is expected to release a quality review to the family on Wednesday, which will address how the health care system dealt with Desmond before he killed his family.
Meanwhile, calls for a full public inquiry into the circumstances leading up to the tragedy are growing.
READ MORE: Sisters of former soldier call for inquiry after high-profile murder suicide in Nova Scotia
Last week, Raymond Sheppard, a relative of the Desmond family, said he believed a two-tiered justice system and race were some of the reasons why a public inquiry has yet to have been called.
Sheppard’s brother, Warren Edward Sheppard Jr., was murdered in March 1996 at a small options home in Dartmouth. The family fought for years to have an inquiry called but has never been successful.
READ MORE: Two-tiered justice system, race issues the reason for lack of Lionel Desmond inquiry: relative
So far, the Nova Scotia government has not ruled out a public inquiry.
On June 22, Premier Stephen McNeil said the province’s medical examiner, Dr. Matthew Bowes, would be briefed on what the hospital findings were before the province took any additional steps to investigate the deaths.
READ MORE: Nova Scotia premier not ruling out public inquiry into Desmond murder-suicide
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