THUNDER BAY – Inquests into the deaths of three Thunder Bay men who died in police custody are being postponed over COVID-19 concerns. The cases are among a number of inquests being postponed across the province.
Ontario regional supervisor for inquests, Dr. David Cameron, announced Friday that inquests into the deaths of Moses Beaver, Timothy Elliot, and Emmanuel Oruitemeka have been delayed, with no rescheduled dates yet determined. The inquests were originally scheduled for May and June of this year.
Beaver, an Indigenous artist from Nibinamik First Nation, died in February 2017 at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre after being transferred from the Thunder Bay District Jail.
The Ministry of the Solicitor General has stated the 56-year-old was experiencing mental health issues prior to being taken into custody.
Beaver’s inquest had already been delayed once, in October 2019. The regional supervisor for inquests said at the time that was to allow time to receive input from involved parties.
Elliot died in September 2015 in the Thunder Bay jail.
Oruitemeka died at the Regional Health Sciences Centre in 2014, four days after collapsing while in police custody. The inquest into his death had also faced an earlier delay, in November 2019.
