The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) confirms that there will be no charges against the police officer from the Eeyou Eenou Police Service. (Archive photo)
Martin Guindon (View profile)Martin Guindon
There will be no charges against the police officer involved in the case of the Cree teenager found dead in Waswanipi, north of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, on October 9, 2022.
This was announced on Thursday by the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP), who thus confirmed the information unveiled by the Coroner's Office last October.
According to the DPCP, the analysis of the evidence collected by the Bureau of Independent Investigations of Quebec (BEIQ) does not allow the conclusion that there was a commission of a criminal offense by the police officer of the Eeyou Eenou Police Department. For its investigation, the BEIQ met three civilian witnesses and analyzed the facts reported by the police officers who intervened.
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The Cree community of Waswanipi is located north of Lebel-sur-Quévillon. (File photo)
The facts date back to the night of October 9, 2022. A 16-year-old girl fell into a ditch while traveling with friends after having consumed drinks. Unable to follow the group, she finally remained in the ditch while her friends continued on their way.
Around 4:30 a.m., a first citizen reported to the services urgently the presence of a half-naked woman, on the ground, at the intersection of Poplar and Birch streets, in the village. The police officer and two patrol officers from the Sûreté du Québec then combed the area for several minutes, without success.
Two hours later, a new call reported the presence of a naked woman near the village primary school. The police officer then finds the teenager in the presence of the citizens who alerted him and who are trying to warm her up.
The Cree teenager was then taken care of by paramedics and despite resuscitation maneuvers carried out at the village medical clinic, she was pronounced dead at 8:15 a.m. According to the pathological report, her death was notably attributable to environmental hypothermia. .
If the coroner Karine Spénard criticized the police work in this case, the DPCP recalls for its part that it is not up to it to formulate comments or recommendations on police intervention methods. His work is limited to looking for elements enabling him to conclude that a criminal act has been committed and to determining whether it is reasonably possible to prove it.
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116
