JEREMY STEPHENS’ FAMILY ‘TROUBLED’ NO INQUEST CALLED
Mother of man killed by Summerside police ‘troubled’ there will be no inquest into his death
SUMMERSIDE – There will be no coroners’ inquest into the death of a Summerside man who was killed by police last year.
Jeremy Stephens, 32, died at Prince County Hospital on May 27, 2018, where he was receiving care for multiple gunshot wounds he received during an altercation with police earlier that day.
Stephens’ family was notified recently that the decision has been made not to hold a public inquest into the death, which is something his mother, Gilda Stephens, had been pushing for.
“I am extremely troubled,” said Gilda in a statement provided by her lawyer, Julie Kirkpatrick.
She went on to say that she is not satisfied with the information revealed so far, and a public coroner’s inquest would have helped shed light on the situation in an impartial manner.
“The information that has been provided to me is based largely on police files, is unchallenged and untested and my many questions remain unanswered. I do not, and will not, accept that Jeremy’s death following six to eight gunshot wounds was ‘accidental’ and I will do what I must to ensure that a death like his does not happen again at the hands of police in P.E.I.”
In a statement to media, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice said Justice Minister Bloyce Thompson and the attorney general’s office have reviewed the relevant information and have decided that the analysis done to date on the death have been sufficient.
“Losing a child, a brother or loved one has an undeniable long-lasting impact on family and friends. It is natural to want to better understand what happened,” they stated.
“In this particular case, there was a thorough process with different independent experts looking at the circumstances of his death.”
“The attorney general’s office trusts that the findings and recommendations of the (Nova Scotia) Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) and P.E.I. coroner’s office sufficiently addressed the circumstances of (Jeremy’s) death. As such, the office will not be calling for an inquest.
Nova Scotia SIRT has previously completed its own investigation into the shooting and ultimately declared that police were justified in their actions.
According to the summary of the report, three officers chased Stephens into a darkened home during a scheduled power outage. They searched the home and found him in the basement.
The officers repeatedly ordered Stephens to surrender. A brief stand-off followed in which Stephen’s broke off a chair leg and threatened the officers. He also swung a golf club at one of them.
Officers managed to take Stephens into custody after shooting him several times. He was taken to Prince County Hospital but died there.
Toxicology reports later indicated Jeremy had high levels THC, amphetamine and methamphetamine in his system and called his behaviour typical of someone under the influence of those substances.