Advocates, families call for coroner's inquest into deaths of Indigenous women, girl

Yahoo

05-05-2025

WARNING: This story includes allegations of violence against Indigenous women and girls and may affect those who have experienced it or know someone who has.
The families of two young Indigenous women and an Indigenous girl whose bodies were separately discovered across Metro Vancouver in disturbing circumstances are calling for B.C.'s minister of public safety and solicitor general to direct a coroner's inquest into their deaths.
Groups including Justice for Girls and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs delivered the call to Garry Begg Monday morning, announcing that an independent forensic pathologist review is disputing the B.C. Coroners Service's findings related to Tatyanna Harrison's cause of death.
The deaths of Harrison, Noelle O'Soup and Chelsea Poorman rattled Metro Vancouver in the spring of 2022.
In all three cases, family members raised concerns about the quality of the police investigations, sounding the alarm about lengthy delays in initiating searches and, in two of the three cases, quick determinations that the deaths were non-criminal in nature.
A recent CBC News investigation revealed the Vancouver Police Department responses to the three deaths are now being investigated by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, the civilian, independent office that oversees complaints into police forces in B.C.
The minister of public safety and the B.C. Coroners Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cause of death disputed
Harrison's body was found on a dry dock in Richmond on May 2, 2022, though she wasn't identified until August.
Police quickly deemed Harrison's death non-suspicious, telling her mother Natasha Harrison that the cause of death was fentanyl toxicity.
But the coroner's report later concluded the 20-year-old died of sepsis, a blood infection that can be fatal if left untreated.
At a Monday press conference, lawyer Sue Brown with Justice for Girls said an independent forensic analysis and review found Harrison's cause of death should be ruled "undetermined."
The review, which relied on information provided by the B.C. Coroners Service, states "there appears to be no compelling evidence to suggest that the cause of death would have been sepsis, as has been proposed by the B.C. Coroners Service autopsy pathologist and the reporting coroner."
Natasha Harrison raised other concerns about the investigation, questioning why a rape kit exam wasn't performed on her daughter despite her being naked from the waist down when she was found.
She also said there was a 20-day delay in starting the search, as the file was passed between jurisdictions.
Chelsea Poorman
Twenty-four-year-old Chelsea Poorman first disappeared in September 2020. Her body was found 18 months later in the yard of a mansion in Vancouver's Shaughnessy nieghbourhood.
Her death was quickly deemed to be not criminal in nature.
Her mother, Sheila Poorman, said it took over a week for police to issue a missing person report. She told the media that her daughter's body was missing fingers and a section of her cranium when her remains were found.
The New Westminster Police Department is investigating the conduct of several Vancouver police officers in relation to Poorman's disappearance.
Vancouver police said in a statement that there is no evidence Chelsea's death was the result of a crime, though they continue to investigate how she travelled to the location where she died, given that she had difficulty walking.
Noelle O'Soup
Of the three cases, Noelle O'Soup's is the only one that remains an ongoing criminal investigation.
O'Soup was in the custody of B.C.'s Ministry of Child and Family Development in 2021. She fled a Port Coquitlam group home in May 2021 when she was 13.
Her body was found in May 2022 in a one-room apartment on Heatley Avenue alongside the body of a woman. The apartment also contained the body of its tenant, a 46-year-old man named Van Chung Pham.
When police initially searched the room, they found only Pham's body. The two other bodies in the small room would only be found months later, leaving the families confounded.
A police officer is being investigated for alleged neglect of duty under the Police Act in connection with the discovery of the bodies.
A CBC News investigation revealed more disturbing details in the case. Canadian immigration officials had deemed Pham a danger to vulnerable women in Vancouver and had sought to have him deported back to his home country of Vietnam. When the attempt at deportation stalled, they released him back into the community.
Pham was also linked to the deaths of and assaults on other women.
Another unknown woman had died of an overdose while in his hotel room at the Canada Hotel.
Yet another woman had reported to police that he allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted her at his Heatley Block apartment.
Crisis support is available for anyone affected by these reports and the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people through a national 24-hour hotline at 1-844-413-6649.
Health support services such as mental health counselling, community-based support and cultural services, and some travel costs to see elders and traditional healers are available through the government of Canada. Family members seeking information about a missing or murdered loved one can access Family Information Liaison Units.