THUNDER BAY - Family members of Don Mamakwa and Roland McKay, two Indigenous men who died while in custody at the Thunder Bay Police Service headquarters, say they hope the inquest into their deaths will lead to real change, so no family has to experience the same kind of pain.
“The most painful part of what we went through was knowing that my son notified or told the police that he wasn’t feeling well, and he was taken to jail instead of the hospital first,” said Mamakwa’s mother, Ina Kakekayash.
“If he was taken to the hospital he would have received help. Knowing that he died in jail is the most painful part. It would have been less painful if he died in the hospital, but not jail.”
The family of Mamakwa and McKay testified on day one of the coroner’s inquest into their deaths while in police custody.
Mamakwa, 44, of Kasabonika First Nation, died on Aug. 3, 2014 at the Thunder Bay Police Service's Balmoral Street headquarters.
McKay, 50, of Big Trout Lake, who was also Mamakwa’s uncle, died while in custody on July 20, 2017.
The Special Investigations Unit found no grounds to charge any of the involved officers in either of the deaths.
The inquest was called by Regional Supervising Coroner for the Northwest Region Dr. Michael Wilson and is mandatory under the Coroner’s Act because the two men died while in police custody. It will examine the circumstances surrounding the deaths, and the jury may make recommendations to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
In an opening statement by Peter Keen, counsel for the coroner, details of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Mamakwa and McKay were shared with the jury.
“These two inquests are being held together because they raise similar issues,” Keen said. “Both were calls for public intoxication. Both had been consuming alcohol. Both interactions involve intersection of EMS and police. Both individuals die in police custody. Both die from illnesses or disease, and both had opportunities for survival that were missed.”
A 911 call was first received on the afternoon of Aug. 2, 2014 from a passerby reporting a man who was "passed out" near the corner of Donald Street and Brodie Street.
Paramedics with Superior North EMS and officers with the Thunder Bay Police Service were dispatched to the scene. The man was located and identified as Mamakwa.
According to Keen, no meaningful assessment of Mamakwa was conducted by paramedics, and he was transported to the police headquarters.
“Had he been taken to a hospital rather than a police cell, there is about a 97 per cent chance he would have survived that night,” Keen said. “His illness was quite treatable.”
Mamakwa was arrested and charged with public intoxication and breaching bail conditions of abstaining from alcohol.
The jury saw video surveillance footage from inside TBPS headquarters that shows Mamakwa walking but unsteady on his feet and breathing heavily.
Mamakwa was placed in a cell and remained there for several hours. Shortly after midnight, he stumbles backward and sits on the floor. Approximately three hours later an officer conducting a check sees him on the floor and enters his cell. Mamakwa had no vital signs and paramedics were called.
It was determined that Mamakwa was already dead and had been for several hours.
Mamakwa’s cause of death was determined to be the result of complications related to diabetes and chronic alcoholism.
Keen also detailed the circumstances surrounding McKay’s death. McKay was found intoxicated and unconscious the evening of July 19, 2017 behind a Fort William Road business.
Paramedics with Superior North EMS also attended the scene and McKay was noted to have a high heart rate and high blood pressure, but he was cleared and not taken to the hospital.
Officers attempted to find somewhere to send McKay, such as the Balmoral Detox Centre, but no spaces were available, so he was transported to police headquarters and placed in a cell.
Shortly afterwards, McKay began breathing heavily. Checks were conducted over several hours and at one point, he was found not breathing. Officers performed CPR, and McKay was transported to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, where he was pronounced dead.
It was determined McKay died as a result of hypertensive heart disease.
Keen told the jury the inquest is not a blame finding exercise, but rather an opportunity to develop recommendations to prevent similar deaths from happening in the future.
The scope of the inquest will include looking at how racism, bias, or stereotyping may have been a factor in police and paramedic interactions with McKay and Mamakwa.
Family members of McKay and Mamakwa, who testified before the inquest on Tuesday, say they hope nothing like this ever happens again.
Mamakwa’s sister, Rachel Mamakwa, told the inquest jury that her brother was a person and she believes police should have treated him with respect, even if he was intoxicated.
“He still deserved some respect from the police,” she said. “I wish they had taken him to the hospital instead. We probably would have sat around his bed and watch him die if he was to die that night, or he would be alive today. I’m just really sad that he had to die alone in a really dark place.”
McKay’s mother, Sarah Jane McKay, speaking through a translator, said it has been a painful experience losing her son and she has been dealing with a lot of grief.
“She is always asking to herself: why did this happen? Why did he leave me? Now I don’t have anyone helping me and looking after me,” she said through the translator.
“She is saying, to be here and to witness this inquest, because she is an elder now and is getting old and doesn’t know how long she is going to live, she is hoping for the best outcome from this inquest.”
The inquest will resume Wednesday morning and is scheduled for 17 days, with 31 witnesses expected to testify.
