Mom of dead Saskatoon teen claims Kilburn Hall staff ignored calls for help

The mother of a teen who was in custody at Kilburn Hall, and died in hospital, claims staff ignored her repeated requests to take the 17-year-old to hospital.

"I spoke to the staff and said, 'Can you guys, like, take my son in? Something's not right, something is wrong,'" she said in an interview.

She said staff at Kilburn Hall, a youth detention centre in Saskatoon, replied that they were working on it.

The woman cannot be named because she has another son who is before the courts and that boy, 16, cannot be identified.

He wanted to go to the graveside to talk to [his brother].- Mother of dead teen

The woman said her 17-year-old son called from Kilburn and was talking rapidly, telling her that he had been up for 12 days. She said she suspects that he was on drugs, although she did not know where he got them.

There will be an inquest into the teen's death. Justice officials were not immediately available to comment on the mother's allegations.

The woman claims that after her conversation with he son she phoned the centre over the next 24 hours, asking for updates and requesting that the teen be taken to hospital.

"I woke up to the phone ringing and it was the staff at Kilburn literally yelling at me," she said. "What is he on, what did he take?"

The mother was at provincial court today for the appearance for her other son in youth court.

The 16-year-old is charged with running away from Kilburn Hall yesterday.

"He wanted to go to the graveside to talk to [his brother]. He said he had to go," she said.

The woman is now concerned with her surviving son's safety and health. She said he's being kept close to the holding cells where his brother spent his final hours.

The 16-year-old is back in court Friday.