‘Why are we willing to remain so ignorant about mental illness?’
Mother of man who killed Hunter Brown says tragedy did not have to happen
Mother of man who killed Hunter Brown says tragedy could have been avoided
It is a devastating fact that on Dec. 15, 2007, a dearly loved gentleman in our community, Hunter Brown, lost his life at the hands of my mentally ill son. This tragedy has left me with so many questions about our society.
Why are we willing to remain so ignorant about mental illness? Statistics in Canada show that one in five people in Canada have experienced some form of mental illness in their lifetime, or know someone who has.
Some of the questions that I am left with: Why was a public inquiry never held, at least at a municipal level? A public inquiry could have been studied, and recommendations could have been made, in order that something like this could never happen again.
Why was somebody so dangerously ill walking around in our community?
How could all the red flags that were raised be overlooked?
My son, Trevor La Pierre, had been documented as suffering from some form of mental illness for 16 months prior to the murder. His first hospital admittance was for trying to amputate his own finger with a meat cleaver. This required surgery to repair. I’m pretty sure this shows mental instability and posing a threat to himself.
During those 16 months, he was admitted into the psychiatric ward four times, for a total stay of 23 days. He was also seen by a psychiatrist 14 times in the course of a year.
He is documented in May 2006 as saying that the voices told him to kill himself or others or get killed. And that he had been hearing the voices for the last nine months. He also admitted to not taking his medications.
He was arrested, or at least held in jail overnight, for public intoxication. At that time the officer confirmed to me of seeing the knife. He was also held, under guard, in the emergency ward one time until a bed was made available for him in the psychiatric ward.
Police were summoned by a 911 call placed by me, to take my son to the hospital because he had carried a knife down the street after saying that he must kill Christians.
How then, after all this, was my son Trevor never held for treatment under a Form 4? How could he not meet the criteria? Why didn’t the system work?
I wonder, does anyone else see that this tragedy didn’t need to happen, and that it was preventable? Why are we so willing to point the finger of blame without looking at the full scope of the problem?
The criteria to be held under a Form 4 in the hospital is as follows: The person has a history of hospitalizations for a similar psychiatric reason, the person poses a threat to him/herself or others, the person is not compliant with use of medication. There are also legal steps to be taken in order to medicate someone against their will if they are found to be non-compliant with medications that they need to get well.
I am sure there are many people who see my son as a vicious animal. Trevor is an ill person who is loved very much by his family. His diagnosis to date is severe intractable treatment-resistant schizophrenia. He is currently serving a life sentence for second-degree murder, with no eligibility for parole until Dec. 18, 2024 — 17 years after his arrest.