Inquest called for death of 23-year-old at Barton jail

The regional supervising coroner, Dr. Karen Schiff, has announced an inquest into the death of Brennan Bowley — the 23-year-old who died in January of a suspected overdose at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre.

The inquest is mandatory under the Coroners Act because Bowley died suddenly while in custody.

His family has been pushing for answers since his death on Jan. 18.

He had been sick, vomiting since the day before, including being sick at court. His family believes a package of drugs that Bowley may have believed to be cocaine was hidden in his body and burst. A partial toxicology screening suggested the deadly opioid fentanyl was in his system.

This inquest comes a month after the conclusion of a large-scale sixweek super inquest into the deaths of eight men at the Barton Street jail that exposed gaps in health care, security and communication between different agencies. The jury made 62 sweeping recommendations for reform that are being considered by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

These deaths occurred between 2012 and 2016. Others have died of suspected drug overdoses at the jail since then and before Bowley’s death in January, including Ryan McKechnie, 34, who died June 29, 2017, after being found unresponsive in his cell.

When asked why Bowley’s inquest was announced first, a spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Coroner said inquests cannot always be scheduled in “an orderly fashion.”

“Inquests are scheduled according to their readiness to proceed,” said spokesperson Cheryl Mahyr. “Inquests can only take place once our investigation is complete, the logistics are in place, any and all other investigations have concluded and any outstanding charges/appeals have been dealt with.”