Final recommendations expected today at Smith inquest
Posted Dec 18, 2013 04:05:49 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
We are expecting to hear the final recommendations from the second inquest into the death of Ashley Smith later this morning.
The teen choked herself to death at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, in October 2007, while guards watched, waiting for the right time to step in.
Smith had a troubled childhood, moving from prison to prison, spending months in seclusion, for what is referred to as problems with authority.
570’s Gary Doyle Show featured a journalist and a lawyer Wednesday morning, closely involved in the inquiry, who says she was a child that never fully matured, and was placed among adults and treated like a criminal.
Reporter Diana Zlomislic says more needs to be done to prevent something like this from happening again, and whether segregation is a viable tool for dealing with prisoners such as Smith.
“It just seems to, in Ashley’s case, just exasperated her issues to the point where, you know, she died. I just don’t think its human. I think we really have to look at our use, and potentially overuse, as a way to deal with these inmates. And we’re hearing that it has not diminished.”
Zlomislic wrote about Smith’s childhood, how she was intelligent, friendly, and a good natured fun-loving girl, in her e-book “The Life and Death of Ashley Smith”. She says the beginning of her life was typical, while the ending was beyond belief.
The Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth’s Richard Malkin says prison was the wrong place for Smith; she had mental challenges that couldn’t be addressed there.
“As soon as she ended up behind those doors, I think it was just such an ill fit for her mental challenges, in that kind of custodial arrangement. It just got worse, and worse; much worse when she hit the adult system.”
Both Zlomislic and Malkin hope this inquiry will change the way youth are treated in prison, and how segregation is viewed.
But regardless of the decisions made tomorrow morning, Malkin worries it won’t be implemented as these kind of cases have gone through the system before, had recommendations made – but not followed through.
The jury is scheduled to release their recommendations at 11:30am, that is also when we will hear if they feel the teen died of natural, accidental, or undetermined causes or suicide or homicide.
WARNING: Some images may be graphic and disturbing to some viewers – discretion is advised.
CLICK HERE to watch the live video stream of the inquest.
