Death of inmate from suspected opioid overdose at Ottawa jail prompts call for inquest
'A lot of people just want answers,' says woman close to David Rafter, who died day after turning 30
A friend and advocates of an inmate suspected of dying from an opioid overdose at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) a day after his 30th birthday are calling for a coroner's inquest as the province conducts two mandatory investigations.
David Rafter was found unconscious in his cell sometime overnight on Feb. 15. He died in hospital the next day.
"A lot of people just want answers," said Michelle Richer, who was close to Rafter and was one of his emergency contacts while he was in jail.
- Jail inmates worried about health-care staff shortages
- Jail guards scanned him as negative for drugs. He died hours later with fentanyl hidden in his body
Richer said the jail called to say he was sent to hospital because of a possible drug overdose.
"It's hard. We lost someone important to us."
Three days earlier, said RIcher, she had spoken to him from the jail "and he was excited about getting out, so, like, what's going on and what happened?"
The Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services said in an email that a mandatory internal investigation into Rafter's care and custody will determine if proper policies and procedures were followed, but the ministry couldn't give further details.
Ontario's Office of the Chief Coroner is also investigating Rafter's death, but determining the cause could take months, said Dr. Louise McNaughton-Filion, regional supervising coroner for eastern Ontario.
McNaughton-Filion said investigations involving jail incidents often involve a toxicology exam, and "If a death is determined to be a non-natural death, then according to the Coroners Act, an inquest occurs."
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents jail staff, confirmed there have been a growing number of overdoses behind bars at the Ottawa jail.
Scott Forde, president of OPSEU Local 411, wouldn't comment on the province's investigations into Rafter's death, but estimated kits with the overdose-rescue drug naloxone have had to be used 15 to 20 times in the last year.
He said he was going to get clean, so it just doesn't make sense to me.- Michelle Richer, speaking on death of David Rafter
Forde said drugs like fentanyl are difficult to detect by current jail scanning equipment, and staff haven't yet been trained to use a new ion scanner that's expected to help do a better job of finding illegal drugs.
Forde said the jail is full again, despite last spring's early release for low-risk inmates and the pause on weekend sentences, meaning it's more challenging to find a space to isolate incoming inmates suspected of carrying drugs.
Inmate deaths created anxiety, says hotline worker
Richer said Rafter struggled with an opioid addiction on and off over the years. She said he relapsed and was using fentanyl after the death of his father more than a year ago.
"He was really bad," she said.
Rafter had been out on bail for charges including "causing a disturbance" since a December 2018 incident. He was back in jail after an arrest Feb. 10 for breaching some of his bail conditions, and two new counts of assaulting an officer during the arrest.
Richer said he had told her he hoped it would serve as opportunity to get help and become a better father to his two children, who are six and eight years old.
"He was actually glad to be in; he said he was going to get clean, so it just doesn't make sense to me."
Richer said Rafter's children are still trying to deal with the fact their dad is gone. Now, she wonders whether he would have been better off in the community, where friends and family could have supported him.
Workers with the volunteer jail hotline said the deaths of Rafter as well as another inmate, Ryan Rawson, over a week later have created anxiety at the jail. Rawson's death is also being investigated by the ministry and the coroner.
Hotline co-ordinator Souheil Benslimane said inmates reported a couple of non-lethal overdoses around the time of Rafter's death, raising concern about the safety of the drug supply at the jail.
"It makes them worried — one of their fellow comrades just died," said Benslimane, who teaches harm-reduction strategies to inmates taking opioids.