Jail ‘shouldn’t be a death sentence,’ says mom whose son overdosed
Rally held at Thorold detention centre following latest overdose involving death of Windsor inmate
On the heels of another reported overdose death at an Ontario jail, a Grimsby mom was back Sunday in front of the detention centre in Thorold where her son had a similar end to his life nearly one year ago.
Angela Case braved cold weather to hold a rally outside Niagara Detention Centre, where last December her son, Jordan, died following an overdose from drugs he took while in custody.
“This one hit close to me,” Case said referring to the death of Joe Gratton.
The Windsor Star reported that Gratton, 31, died of an overdose on Oct. 30 while at South West Detention Centre. A second man also overdosed at the detention centre, and remains in intensive care.
In the ensuing days, Case said, two more inmates overdosed, though the latest don’t appear to be fatal.
“This is what infuriates me,” she said. “Don’t you think you’d go in and clean house, knowing you have something deadly in there?”
Case has been working to raise awareness about inmate overdoses since Jordan died last December. The 22-year-old started using drugs when he was 19 and was at the detention centre for the third time when he died. He had been trying to get off drugs and straighten his life out when he overdosed, Case said.
While an internal investigation continues 11 months later, Case said she was told her son had pneumonia and 27 mg of fentanyl in his system when he died, but he had also been taking antidepressants and had methadone in his system, indicating to Case that her son was trying to get help.
With the death of Gratton and a perceived lack of movement from government officials, Case said another weekend of rallies was held at four locations — Hamilton, Windsor, London and Niagara — to keep up pressure on the government. One was held in Hamilton on Saturday, with the others taking place Sunday.
Asked if she felt like any progress has been made, her answer was simple.
“No. And that’s the saddest part,” she said. While her son, and many of the people in the detention centre, are guilty of crimes and deserve to do their time, Case said that doesn’t mean they should be condemned to death. “It shouldn’t be a death sentence,” she said. Case doesn’t have much faith in some of the measures being taken, like the announcement of new institutional security teams at Niagara Detention Centre earlier this year, when Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said she is “determined to crack down on gangs in our prison and their power to plan street-level criminal activities from the inside.”
Det. Sgt. Grant McNair said, at the time, the teams will help take away the inmates’ ability to hurt themselves.
But Case doesn’t think it’ll make much of a difference and wants officials to do more.
“We need more to stop that revolving door,” she said.
Even though her son was seeking help, she said he would have had to wait six months after leaving the detention centre to get the help he needed.
Case is planning a rally at Queen’s Park on Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. She said the local rallies don’t appear to be putting enough pressure on politicians.
“We’re going to put it in their face,” she said.
Case runs a Facebook group, #JusticeforJordan, for people who want to keep up to date.