The family of a man beaten to death during a confrontation with Vancouver police says the officers involved should lose their jobs, while others should be better trained to respond to people experiencing mental health challenges.
Melissa Gray says the death of her brother, Myles, devastated the family, who have been waiting for accountability from police for more than seven years.
Myles Gray, who was 33, died on Aug. 13, 2015, following a beating involving seven officers that sent him into cardiac arrest and left him with a broken eye socket, a crushed voice box, a ruptured testicle and other injuries. The extent of his injuries was such that no cause of death was ever confirmed.
His sister said before the start of the coroner’s inquest into his death on Monday that the officers stole her brother’s life and don’t deserve to stay in policing.
The British Columbia Prosecution Service declined to approve criminal charges against the officers in 2020, saying there was no video footage and no one besides police witnessed the incident, which began with a call about an agitated man.
The Crown could not prove any offence had been committed, the service said, noting the officers had provided incomplete and sometimes inconsistent accounts.
Melissa was the first to testify at the inquest, telling the jury her brother was goofy, kind and loyal. He made friends and made people laugh wherever he went, she said.
“We take comfort knowing that Myles was innocent,” she said.
Gray’s mother, Margie, said the family knows who Myles was as a person.
“They can’t take that from us,” she said in an interview.
The decision by the Crown not to pursue charges against the officers involved in the beating left the family feeling “broken and hopeless,” Melissa told the inquest.
She said her brother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after an episode in high school, around 1999, but to her knowledge, he was stable after that.
He was always working and eventually took over a business on the Sunshine Coast that had been run by another family member, she added.
Her brother’s family doctor, Dr. Christoffel Mentz-Serfontein, testified that he met Myles in 2011 and determined his bipolar disorder was “well controlled.”
In response to a question from a juror, the doctor said there was no documentation showing concern about Myles’s mental status in the year before his death.
He said Myles took a prescription medication to help with insomnia and had a prescription for a mood-stabilizing medication, though he did not always take it.
Police had originally been called to a report of someone “agitated and disturbed,” who had sprayed a woman with her garden hose, the prosecution service has said.
Melissa said the officers who responded to the call didn’t have the knowledge or skills to treat her brother with dignity and compassion when he was vulnerable.
“If someone is having a mental health crisis and they aren’t wearing shoes and they aren’t wearing a shirt, (police) should be able to identify that and they should treat them more humanely,” Melissa told media before testifying.
Daniel Rasmussen testified that he worked at a florists supply shop in Burnaby at the time of the incident and Myles stopped by regularly to deliver materials.
He said he saw Myles around 12:30 p.m. on the day of the beating, and while he did not remember speaking to Myles, he recalled nothing unusual about his demeanour.
Rasmussen said he became concerned when he noticed Myles’s truck outside hours later with a wallet and keys left inside, something he described as “very unusual.”
He said he ended up calling the RCMP to report Myles missing. He said he also spoke with Myles’s parents, who were concerned that they couldn’t reach their son.
Another witness, Andreah Pilgrim, testified that she had been working as an insurance broker and saw Myles near a bus stop outside her office around 1:15 p.m.
He was acting erratically, pacing back and forth, muttering to himself, throwing his fists in the air and searching in bushes, she told the inquest.
Pilgrim said Myles showed “no aggression” toward anyone, but she “wouldn’t have wanted to have a confrontation with him while he was in that mindset.”
The witness list for the inquest indicates coroner Larry Marzinzik and a jury will hear testimony from more than 40 people over 10 days, including the officers directly involved in the beating and first responders who cared for Myles.
The BC Coroners Service said the jury can’t make findings of legal responsibility, but it may make recommendations to prevent deaths under similar circumstances.
Margie said she’d like to see recommendations related to police use of body cameras, drug testing for officers and better training for mental health calls. The family honours Myles by spending time together and celebrating life, she added.
“He isn’t here. We are here, so we try and make things bigger and better, especially for my grandkids.”
Meanwhile, a discipline proceeding is ongoing in connection to Gray’s death, which could result in the dismissal of the seven Vancouver police officers, who remain on active duty.
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) confirmed Monday, however, there are “no specific timelines” in which a decision must be made.
“The Police Act grants the Discipline Authority the authority to grant an adjournment of the discipline proceeding for up to 20 business days if it is in the public interest,” wrote Andrea Spindler, deputy commissioner, by email.
“Discipline proceedings can be lengthy depending on the complexity of the matter, availability of counsel, requests for further investigation, the calling of witnesses, or other procedural rights afforded to the members at this stage.”
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) had filed a report to the prosecution service for consideration of charges, following an initial probe hampered by a lack of cooperation by some officers.
In response to a request for comment on the inquest and disciplinary proceeding underway, Vancouver police Sgt. Steve Addison said the IIO had completed its investigation, no charges were laid, and the OPCC is conducting an independent review.
Arthur Schafer, director of the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, told Global News it is “absolutely inexplicable and horrifying that none of these officers has been suspended, none has been criminally charged, none has been disciplined over a period of seven years.”
— with files from Global News’ Simon Little, Elizabeth McSheffrey and Catherine Urquhart