Mom crosses Canada to say goodbye to daughter who died in Windsor, Ont. jail

For two hours Selina McIntyre painstakingly did her daughter's makeup and combed her long, dark hair. It was important Delilah Blair look beautiful because it would be the last time her children ever saw her.

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The mother of four took her own life at the South West Detention Center in Windsor, Ont. on May 21, a death the family is still struggling to make sense of.

I think anyone who loves their kids would do anything for them without thinking twice.- Selina McIntyre

McIntyre's one wish was to hold her daughter before she was cremated and brought back home to the Northwest Territories. Thanks to support from her community and a banker willing to cut through red tape her wish was granted.

"The hardest time was walking in there. Seeing her body in the raw state it was," she said. "But I wasn't doing it for myself, I was doing it for her ... I have to have answers for her. This shouldn't have happened to her."

Blair's ashes will be shared among her family. The woman who was on the run for most of her life is finally at rest with her loved ones.

Her mother will keep a piece of the daughter she describes as "untamable" close to her heart in a cross necklace — Blair's children will carry a lock of her hair in heart-shaped lockets.

"With something like this to happen so suddenly without them having a chance to physically see their mom. I had to give them something that would give them closure," explained McIntyre, who cares for three of the kids. "I think what they're trying to grasp at is any small piece of her to hold onto just to keep her with them."

Baked goods and community support

A $275 tin of butter tarts and a wellspring of love from Hay River, N.W.T. helped carry McIntyre more than 4,100 kms across Canada to see her daughter one final time.

As news of Blair's death rushed through the small community, Brenda McAuley knew she had to do something for her friend.

"I just didn't want her to be by herself," she said. "I wouldn't want anybody to go through that … to do that alone is just unacceptable."

McAuley sat at her computer for days, organizing fundraisers, gathering baked goods and asking anyone and everyone for help. Money poured in from surrounding towns, cities as far off as Edmonton and even other provinces. 

In two days they raised $4,782.

"There were cash donations, there was lots of baking," she said. "Some baking went for $275 for butter tarts, I was blown away."

Those funds, combined with part of McIntyre's pension she was able to access after a CIBC employee named Jeremiah Johnson fought for her, were enough to cover the cost of her travel to Windsor.

McAuley said she's seen a different side to her friend over the past few days.

"I've never seen Selina cry," she said. "I've never ever seen her shed a tear and I've seen a lot of tears in the past week and it breaks my heart to see that."

Family vows to fight for answers

Blair is the first person to die at the state-of-the-art jail just outside of Windsor. The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services said if a death in custody is not natural a mandatory inquest will take place, but the family said they have not been told whether Blair's death will be investigated more deeply.

• VIDEO | Tour the South West Detention Centre

McIntyre said she plans to continue fighting for answers.

"If there was something done wrong to your kid and you're the only one who loves them you'll fight for them," she said. "I think anyone who loves their kids would do anything for them without thinking twice."