Inquest announced into 2012 death of First Nations man in custody in Thunder Bay, Ont.

More than 12 years after his death, an inquest has been announced into the death of Sherman Kirby Quisses.

Quisses died at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre on June 4, 2012, following an altercation at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre. The 34-year-old was a member of Neskantaga First Nation, and died days before he was meant to be released.

According to police, Quisses was hurt with a sharp object during an argument with another inmate, CBC News previously reported.

That inmate – Adam Capay – was charged with first-degree murder. But the 19-year-old from Lac Seul First Nation never made it to trial; the charge was stayed after Capay spent more than four years in solitary confinement.

Capay's case drew national attention in 2016 when Renu Mandhane, chief of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, toured the jail and met Capay, who was being kept alone in his cell for 23 hours a day with the lights on.

Inquests are mandatory under the Coroners Act when a person dies in custody.

The inquest will examine the circumstances surrounding Quisses' death, while the jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing future, similar deaths.

The jury will be tasked with answering five questions: identifying who died, when and where they died, their medical cause of death, and by what means they died — which is classified as either natural causes, accident, homicide, suicide or undetermined.

The date and location of the proceedings have yet to be announced.