Okanagan family sues, seeking answers in son’s police-involved death

It’s been more than three years since an Okanagan man died after police tried to arrest him.

But Clayton Donnelly’s parents say they still don’t know the details of what happened.

“We want details of what exactly happened on that night and why did a traffic stop turn into a murder or turn into a death? Why?” said Kathy Donnelly, Clayton’s mother.

Desperate to learn what happened to their son and force institutions to change, the parents have filed a lawsuit over Clayton’s death.

“We just want want to know some answers,” Kathy Donnelly said.

“We don’t want another family to go through this same situation.”

What B.C.’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO), has said publicly is that in the middle of the night on a Monday in October 2019 Clayton was reported driving erratically in the Lake Country area and that after two unsuccessful traffic stops the vehicle was stopped in Malakwa and police tried to arrest Clayton.

“When we went the next day it was sort of quite clear he was brain dead,” Kathy Donnelly said, noting the family then had to decide whether to take the 38-year-old man off life support.

“You trust the RCMP to care for the public and here we are we don’t know anything and we’re in the hospital and now he is brain dead.”

The family’s lawsuit alleges police tasered Clayton in the neck during the arrest and that this lead to his death. The court action argues the officer’s use of the taser was reckless and amounted to an excessive use of force.

Clayton’s father Kevin Donnelly wonders why the arrest, which occurred in a very rural area, wasn’t handled differently.

The IIO investigated and in late 2021 announced it had sent a report to Crown counsel saying there was “reasonable grounds… to believe that an officer may have committed a criminal offense through their use of force.”

However, more than a year later, prosecutors haven’t decided whether to charge the cop leaving the family without closure.

“We keep asking and they just say there is nothing. How could there be just nothing. Just give us the information you have. Maybe it is not complete but give us the information,” Kathy Donnelly said.

None of the allegations in the lawsuit have been tested in court.

The IIO said it errs on the side of withholding information to ensure if a charge is laid, it doesn’t get thrown out.

“Our criminal justice system is designed to ensure that all persons receive a fair trial and if too much information might be released ahead of time it could actually mean that some court might stay a charge because of that so we usually err on the side of not providing information,” said the IIO’s chief civilian director Ron MacDonald.

“We do try to share some information where possible but at the end of the day we will probably always err on the side of caution when it comes to the disclosure of information. Because of that, unfortunately on occasion, it does mean the family doesn’t receive as much information as they might have wished.”

MacDonald said the organization tries to learn from each file including this one.

“We always go back and look to see can we do better in the future. This case and others always will make us stop and ask what can we do better to improve the way we carry out our investigations but also how we interact with families,” MacDonald said.

In a statement, the RCMP said it can’t comment on the allegations for multiple reasons including that the matter is before the courts.

“The RCMP is awaiting the results of the BC Prosecution Service charge assessment and, as per protocols, any other information gathered during the IIO BC investigation which may be relevant to RCMP internal processes. Until that occurs, it would be inappropriate for the RCMP to comment further on any allegations, civil or otherwise,” senior media relations officer Staff Sergeant Kris Clark.

What police could say is that all of the officers involved in the incident remain operational.

The BC Prosecution Service said it does not have a timeline for when it will decided if any charge should be laid and did not respond to a question about concerns it is taking too long to decide whether to charge the officer.

MacDonald did admit it took the IIO longer than he would have liked to investigate the incident. It was more than two years between when the death occurred and when the IIO announced it had sent its report to Crown.

MacDonald said the pandemic and lack of “resources” at the IIO impacted the speed of the investigation.

“I have spoken on many occasions in the past about the resource challenges that our office has had and while steps are being taken to improve that thanks to some help from the government at that time we certainly had significant resource challenges and this case was a complex one,” MacDonald said.

“In the end it did take longer than I would have liked to see it take. However, we want to always make sure we are able to present the best case to the Crown if I believe that that’s what should happen.”

Kevin Donnelly describes his son as a good person with lots of friends and a “small statured, unaggressive guy.”

The father’s Rutland living room is peppered with pictures of Clayton in happier times: graduating from high school, playing hockey and hanging out with family.

Kathy Donnelly said her son was very kind and had a great laugh.

The parents said their 38-year-old son lived with mental health challenges and had many relatively benign interactions with police.

“Many times police had taken him into the hospital or overnight just to settle him down,” said Kevin Donnelly.

“They never had any issues violently with him at all…Even officers had said he is a nice kid he just has problems. They would have a cigarettes and talk him down.”

The lawsuit argues Clayton’s mental health meant he “required special care in his dealings with the RCMP.”

“Our son we feel should have been in a hospital or jail for driving erratically but he should not have been dead,” Kevin Donnelly said.