Inquest called into death of inmate who choked on food at women's jail

Manitoba's chief medical examiner has called an inquest into the death of an inmate who choked on food at the Women's Correctional Centre in Headingley earlier this year.

Amanda Lee Zygarliski, 40, started to choke while eating a meal before collapsing and becoming unresponsive on May 15, 2021, says a news release from the office of Chief Medical Examiner Dr. John K. Younes.

Attempts to resuscitate Zygarliski at the scene were unsuccessful.

An autopsy confirmed the cause of death to be choking and determined it to be accidental.

A fatality inquiry is called when the person who died was in police custody at the time, a resident in a custodial facility such as a nursing home, an involuntary resident in a facility under the Mental Health Act, or a resident in a development centre as defined in the Vulnerable Persons Living with a Mental Disability Act.

A inquest can also be called if the chief medical examiner has reasonable grounds to believe the deceased died as a result of use of force by a police officer acting in the course of duty.

In this case, it was called to determine the circumstances surrounding Zygarliski's death and to learn how to prevent a similar occurrence in the future, the release says.

Information about when and where the inquest will take place will be determined by the chief judge of the provincial court of Manitoba and released at a later date.

Zygarliski, who was from Selkirk, is the first person to die while in custody at the Headingley women's facility just west of Winnipeg, which opened in 2012.