Coroner’s inquest will examine the 2019 death of a man in a Kamloops RCMP jail cell – Kamloops News

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Randy Lampreau, 49, died on the morning of March 13, 2019. Police were cleared of wrongdoing and the British Columbia Coroner has now opened an inquest into the death.

A coroner’s inquest has been opened to investigate the circumstances surrounding the 2019 death of a Kamloops man who was found unconscious in his cell after being arrested for public drunkenness.

BC’s police watchdog has already cleared Kamloops Mounties of any wrongdoing in the death of Randy Dale Lampreau, 49, following an investigation into his death. Now a coroner’s inquest will establish the facts surrounding the 49-year-old’s death, and the jury will have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths in the future.

The inquest is scheduled to begin July 22 in Kamloops court.

Lampreau was arrested around 9:30 p.m. on March 12, 2019. Mounties found him outside a business on the 100 block of Victoria Street while responding to a call about an intoxicated man who refused to leave.

A civilian cell guard told the Independent Bureau of Investigation that he checked on Lampreau at 1 a.m. and again at 2 a.m., and also checked the cells every 15 minutes via a video monitor or through the cell window, as needed.

However, just before 6 a.m., he noticed Lampreau had not moved for some time and when he checked him, “his color wasn’t right” and paramedics were called.

Lampreau was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

The IIO report said the guard’s account of what happened was corroborated by the cell block diary and video evidence.

Speaking to reporters after the 2019 decision, Lenora Starr, Lampreau’s sister-in-law, said the family was “unsatisfied” with the policies and procedures of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) regarding the situations her brother found himself in, and would like to see them resolved, in particular by finding better ways of caring for people under the influence of alcohol, rather than putting them in prison.

Kamloops City Council has been exploring the possibility of establishing a sobering center in the city since 2016 and sent an updated business plan to the province last December.

The IIO found that police actions while Lampreau was in custody met the expected standard of care.

Lampreau’s autopsy concluded that he died of heart inflammation and that the level of methamphetamine in his system was a “significant factor”.