SASKATOON – A coroner’s inquest has begun into the death of a 19-year-old man found in a Saskatoon police cell.
Brandon Daniels was arrested for public intoxication on the evening of July 3, 2010. He was placed in a cell at police detention and found dead 12 hours later.
He was never formally charged and had no prior criminal record.
Family say Daniels was mentally ill.
The courtroom was packed with family and friends who heard he died of an overdose of Tylenol.
Family members cried as the court was played video of Daniels being taken from the police car to the cells. He appeared to be in a semi-conscious state and couldn’t stand by himself.
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A police video monitor also played footage showing officers place the man in the recovery position. A position he barely moved from the entire night.
He was checked on a number of times but Sergeant Randy Huisman said it was a particularly busy night with 36 arrests, prisoners fighting and an assault on an officer by a a prisoner.
It was an inmate who was placed into Daniels’ cell that raised the alarm at about 6:30 a.m. the next morning.
The inquest has been a long time coming for Daniels’ family, although his mother, Sherry Bird, says she doesn’t expect to get many answers.
“There really is no answer to what happened, it’s just a matter of we’re hoping to change attitudes about mental health and not just mental health but attitudes about how to treat people intoxicated or not,” said Bird.
“Everybody deserves to be treated like a human and not just thrown in a cell and left there for 12 hours,” she added.
Inquests aren’t designed to assign blame but the coroner may make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
The inquest is expected to last until Friday.
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