Indigenous woman killed in B.C. had said RCMP failed to respond to stalking reports

Family of Prince George’s Christin West asks why more wasn’t done to protect her.

The family of a slain Indigenous woman in Prince George, B.C., wants to know why RCMP didn’t do more to protect her after she said she told police she was being stalked and threatened by a man in the community. Christin Marion West, 36, was found dead in her apartment on Aug. 7. Her body was discovered by family members after they reported her missing to RCMP.

Police have since arrested Dennis Daniel Gladue and the B.C. Prosecution Service has approved a charge of second-degree murder. Cpl. Jennifer Cooper of Prince George RCMP said West and Gladue were known to each other, but did not elaborate on the nature of their relationship.

West’s sister, Candace West, said she also doesn’t know the nature of her sibling’s relationship with Gladue. She said Christin West had contacted police several times about being stalked and harassed in the months leading up to her homicide.

“I really believe she would still be here if they had just helped her,” Candace West said of her sister. In one instance last month, Christin West posted on Facebook to say her tires had been slashed “because I refuse to be someone’s [girlfriend]” and that she was being threatened. “Two male cops came and sided with the stalker who is harassing me,” she wrote in the July 3 post. Candace West said her sister felt insulted and dismissed by the attending officers. In another Facebook post, Christin West had speculated that it was because both the police and accused were white, while she was Indigenous. ”I experienced biased racial opinions and got told straight out ‘he didn’t believe me’” Christin West wrote on July 8. “They wonder why we don’t trust the police.” Cooper would not confirm whether Christin West reported stalking and harassment to police, or say if RCMP had opened an investigation. She did not respond by deadline to specific questions addressing concerns about the police response. ....Source:.ctvnews.ca