New eyes to study man’s death after altercation with police
Three years after he died following an encounter with police, the B.C. Coroners Service is asking for outside help to determine what killed Myles Gray.
Shortly after the 33-year-old Sechelt man died, local pathologists conducted an autopsy, but were unable to determine a cause of death.
That missing piece of information could form a significant part of the Independent Investigations Office’s probe into what happened Aug. 13, 2015, the day Gray died.
The small-business owner had been pursued to the backyard of a house on Joffre Avenue, just east of Boundary Road, by as many as six Vancouver police officers, after a complaint of a distraught man causing a disturbance. Initial attempts to arrest him resulted in Gray becoming “agitated,” according to police. More officers were called, pepper spray was used and, eventually, a “physical” confrontation broke out.
According to a court file, Gray suffered a fractured voice box, nasal fracture, dislocated jaw, a fractured right orbital eye socket, a fractured rib, fractured sternum, hemorrhagic injury to one testicle, and multifocal bruising to his thigh and right arm. But his cause of death remains a mystery. Gray’s family has been asking the coroner’s service to get another opinion.
“What harm is there in getting a second pair of eyes?” mother Margie Gray told Postmedia News.
They were recently told two out-of-province pathologists will examine the evidence.
“We’re really relieved,” she said. “It means more waiting, but at least it’s moving forward.”
B.C. Coroners Service spokesman Andy Watson confirmed that the service is “working to identify additional forensic pathology resources to aid in the investigation.”
He added: “The coroners service is a fact-finding — not fault-finding — organization. We will share information with the IIO and family as it becomes available.”
Ron MacDonald, the IIO’s chief civilian director, said his office will wait for the results before completing its investigation. The IIO’s investigation was stalled for several months because a Vancouver police officer was unwilling to be interviewed for a second time. MacDonald confirmed the interview has now taken place.