Latest news with #WilliamAhmo
CTV News
15-07-2025
- CTV News
Inquest called into 2021 inmate death
An inquest has been called into the death of William Ahmo, an inmate who died following a standoff in 2021.
CBC
14-07-2025
- CBC
Inquests called into deaths of men in Manitoba correctional facilities in 2020, 2021
Inquests have been called into the 2020 and 2021 deaths of seven men in two Manitoba correctional facilities, the province said on Monday. Those inquests include one into the death of William Ahmo, 45, who was shown on video repeating the words "I can't breathe" while officers swarmed and restrained him at the Headingley Correctional Centre in February 2021. The altercation that led to Ahmo's death began as a prolonged standoff between Ahmo and corrections officers in a common room in the jail west of Winnipeg, and ended with Ahmo being sent to hospital in medical distress. Ahmo was taken off life support a week later and died. His cause of death was determined to be a brain injury due to cardiorespiratory arrest, the provincial news release announcing the inquest said. While Manitoba's chief medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, corrections officer Robert Jeffrey Morden was acquitted of criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessaries of life in September 2024. Another inquest was called into the death of Jesse Thomas, 36, from the toxic effects of fentanyl and flualprazolam in November 2021 at Stony Mountain Institution, a news release said. Thomas was found unresponsive and alone in his locked cell about a half-hour after he was seen sleeping and snoring during routine rounds that day. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and his manner of death was deemed accidental, the release said. Inquests were also called into the deaths of five other men by suicide at Stony Mountain Institution in 2020. Adrian Young, 39, and Patrick Eaglestick, 25, were both found in their cells during routine checks in March of that year. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful for Young, while Eaglestick was taken to hospital, where he died the following day, a news release said. Farron Rowan, 32, was found during a routine check in April, while Curt Harper, 36, was found in his cell in May. Resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful for both, news releases said. Melvis Owen, 38, was found in his cell during scheduled rounds in December. While resuscitation brought back a pulse, Owen died in hospital a few days later. Information about the date, time and location of the inquests will be determined at a later date by the chief judge of the provincial court.
Winnipeg Free Press
14-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Inquest called into inmate's death, months after guard acquitted
Manitoba's chief medical examiner has called an inquest into a fatal incident that led to a jail guard being tried and acquitted of criminal charges. The inquest will try to determine the circumstances regarding the death of Headingley Correctional Centre inmate William Ahmo in 2021. He died in hospital on Feb. 14. On Feb. 7, the Sagkeeng First Nation man was shackled, pinned to the ground, placed in a spit hood and strapped into a restraint chair in the common area of his unit after a standoff with jail guards. SUPPLIED Will Ahmo with his son Emory. Ahmo died inside Headingley Correctional Institution on February 7, 2021. Ahmo, 45, died in hospital on Feb. 14, 2021. Seven days earlier, the Sagkeeng First Nation man was shackled, pinned to the ground, placed in a spit hood and strapped into a restraint chair in the common area of his unit after a three-hour standoff with guards at the Headingley Correctional Centre. The chief medical examiner deemed Ahmo's death a homicide. He died from a brain injury caused by a heart attack as he struggled to breathe, court heard at the trial of Robert Jeffrey Morden. Morden, who led the tactical team that responded to the standoff, pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessities of life. He was acquitted last September. A lawsuit filed on behalf of Ahmo's mother in February 2023 alleges the provincial government and jail guards were negligent and breached their duty of care for the inmate, among other claims of mistreatment and racism. The government has yet to respond in civil court. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. Five other inquests announced Monday involve Stony Mountain Institution inmates who hanged themselves in their cells between March and December of 2020. Another involves a Stony inmate deemed to have died from an accidental drug overdose in November 2021. fpcity@
