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

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.

Sue Brown, a lawyer for Justice for Girls, said "the investigations into all three of these girls' disappearances and suspicious deaths were wrought with missteps, failures, and neglect."

"The role of the coroner is essential to the administration of justice. The public must be able to put faith in their investigations and findings. This latest information seriously calls our ability to do that into question".

Since 2022, 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.

In a statement, Garry Begg, minister of public safety and solicitor general, called the deaths "a tragedy," and highlighted that Indigenous women and girls face higher rates of violence than other women in Canada.

"Families expect that everyone involved in investigations like these works hard to get justice for those who died too soon. It's crucial that we can trust the integrity and actions of the officers doing these heartbreaking investigations. I have received a request for a coroner's inquest from the families of these young women and this is something that my office is looking into," the statement read in part.

The B.C. Coroners Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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.