Myles Gray died by homicide, B.C. coroner's inquest finds

The jury at a B.C. coroner's inquest into Myles Gray's 2015 death after a beating by police has found the 33-year-old died by homicide.

The jury at a B.C. coroner's inquest into Myles Gray's death after a beating by police has found the 33-year-old died by homicide.

The verdict was returned Monday along with several recommendations aimed at preventing future deaths in similar circumstances. The jury's verdict does not find fault or assign blame. A homicide ruling means Gray's death was due to injury intentionally inflicted by another person but carries no weight in the criminal justice system.

The verdict was not unanimous, with four jurors in agreement and one opposed.

Expediting the implementation of body-worn cameras for officers with the Vancouver Police Department was among the recommendations delivered.

The jury would also like to see VPD conduct a full review of its crisis de-escalation training and enhancement of that program.

During the inquest, the jury learned the toxicology testing done on samples from Gray’s body was not as thorough as it could have been and recommended a review of policies and procedures around toxicology samples.

Gray died in August of 2015 after a violent altercation with several Vancouver police officers in a residential yard just east of Boundary Road.