Smith inquest: Day 4
Posted May 19, 2011 12:14:48 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A coroner’s inquest examining the death of Ashley Smith has been shown a video from four days before she died in which she ties ligatures around her neck and her face turns purple.
Smith choked herself to death on Oct. 19, 2007 at the Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener and the inquest into her death began hearing evidence this week.
The five-person jury has so far been shown four videos of several incidents in which Smith ties a piece of cloth around her neck.
A correctional manager who is testifying says Smith frequently engaged in self-harming behaviour and said she tied material around her neck for the sensation, not to kill herself.
In a video from Oct. 15, 2007, Smith can be seen lying on the floor of her cell with a ligature around her neck, her face turning a deep purple colour.
It was removed shortly thereafter, but minutes later the camera is turned back on and she has tied another piece of cloth around her neck.
