Inquest for 5 Niagara Detention Centre inmates opens with families' emotional stories, a look at opioid crisis

WARNING: This story contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​drug poisoning or know someone affected by it.

The coroner's inquest into the deaths of five Niagara Detention Centre inmates between 2018 and 2022 opened with a lawyer reading heart-wrenching stories from some of the families and the medical officer of health testifying on the high opioid death rate in the region. 

Timothy Anderson, Murray Balogh, David Cowe, Michael Croft and Jahrell Lungs all died of drug toxicity within 10 days of being transferred to the Thorold, Ont., detention centre, inquest jurors were told Monday, when the agreed statements of facts were also presented.

People in jail "have little to no control over what happens to them," so when they die, it's our societal responsibility to ask why and examine those circumstances, said inquest counsel Phillip Tsui.

Inquests for people who died in custody are mandatory under Ontario's Coroner's Act. 

The task of coroner's juries is to determine, on a balance of probabilities, who died, when, where, how and by what means. They may also make recommendations to prevent other deaths. 

This inquest, which is expected to last nine days, is being held virtually and can be viewed online. Dr. Richard McLean, the presiding officer, said he is in Burlington and most jurors are in Niagara. 

Tsui said the inquest will look at topics including preventing access to drugs at the Niagara Detention Centre, identifying people in custody at risk of overdoses, and the impact of understaffing and overcrowding.

The other inquest counsel, Peter Napier, read statements from some of the men's family members.

Lungs' mother wrote that her son won academic awards growing up. As an adult, he was a "loving" father to an eight-year-old and a six-year-old, and had plans to get married. 

"He was not just another name or statistic. He was my child," she wrote. "He had his struggles, as many young people do, but he was trying and he deserved a chance to live and grow."

She said that since police informed her of Jahrell's death, she's been "living a nightmare" and left with questions, including how her son could enter the detention centre and never return home, she wrote. She hopes the inquest can prevent similar pain being inflicted on other families. 

Anderson's brother, Mathew, wrote a statement with his cousins, saying Timothy loved art, skateboarding and philosophy, and "his time in jail rarely offered him time to heal."

Balogh's adoptive parents, Frank and Christine, said the last few years of their son's life were "filled by many struggles, but he should have been safe in the custody and control of the system."