Lee Bonneau inquest: Testimony wraps

The final witnesses at the Lee Bonneau inquest have testified, telling jurors the case was "tragic" and "unprecedented". The inquest is looking into the death of the boy, 6, who police say was killed by another child, 10.

Bonneau was found severely injured on a southern Saskatchewan First Nation in August, 2013 after walking away from a bingo he was at with his foster mother. The boy accused of the killing, known only as L.T., was too young to be charged.

The inquest has heard from over two dozen witnesses.

When this situation happened it gave everybody a wake-up call.- Raymond Shingoose

On Thursday Brenda Obey, a program manager for the Yorkton Tribal Council's Child and Family Services agency testified that she had not reviewed any reports about L.T., who has been described as a deeply troubled boy, until after Lee's death.

"I read the intake after the death of the child," she said. "I wasn't aware of any intakes prior to that."

Previous testimony at the inquest noted that there were nine reports concerning L.T. and his family between 2008 and 2009. One included a complaint that L.T. was suspected of killing a pregnant dog.

Obey told the inquest that L.T. would have been apprehended, if she knew what she knows now.

L.T. responding well to treatment, official says

The boy is currently in care, but not with his parents.

"He's receiving comprehensive treatment and he's responding quite well," Obey said.

She also noted that issues of poverty, transportation and access to counselors are all barriers people on First Nations face and affected getting help for L.T.

He was diagnosed as having a severe form of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in 2013 and had been displaying troubling behaviour in his early years at school.

Obey said she was not aware of letters sent by school asking for help for L.T., noting the agency handles 337 reports in a typical year.

"Alcoholism and general neglect [are] 90 per cent of our files," she said, adding the agency was short on staff in 2013.

Another officials from the agency, executive director Raymond Shingoose, told the inquest that they have put added emphasis on training managers since Lee's death.

"When this situation happened it gave everybody a wake-up call," Shingoose said. "This tragedy is going to teach us something. Our elders always tell us there's a purpose."

Shingoose said they now have short and long terms plans and have hired a quality assurance worker. They have also made improvements to their record keeping systems.

A provincial government official who prepared a critical incident report following the death of the boy was the final witness heard at the inquest.

"I've never written a report like this," Candace Plamondon, said. "This case is tragic and it's unprecedented."

She said her report noted that many people in L.T.'s community knew about serious issues concerning the boy, yet very little was done.

Plamondon made 13 recommendations in her report. One of the results is that a consultant is working with the agency on "almost a daily basis" to improve services.

With the testimony ended, the presiding coroner is set to provide instructions to the jury on Friday when they will begin their deliberations.

A coroner's jury can establish how a death took place and make recommendations on how to prevent similar deaths. It cannot assign blame or fault in a case.