Guelph woman waited hours in court for son's hearing, only to learn he died after night in OPP custody

Faye Dzikewich waited in a Guelph, Ont., courtroom all day for her son's bail hearing before learning he had died four hours earlier.

Now, she's searching for answers.

Nathaniel Schofield, 36, went into medical distress while in custody at an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) facility in Rockwood. The case involves the province's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) — the civilian law enforcement agency investigates circumstances involving police that result in serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault.

The SIU says a man, confirmed by Dzikewich to be her son, was arrested for assault the night of July 9 in Arthur and was first taken to be held in police cells in Teviotdale before he was moved to Rockwood. 

"I called Rockwood two or three times the next day," Dzikewich said.

"They assured me that he would be released on his own because it wasn't anything serious. They made me think that they were relaying stuff."

Dzikewich said she arrived at the Guelph courthouse on July 10 at around 10:30 a.m. ET. She started to feel worried as hours passed and her son still hadn't appeared.

"I asked the courtroom people, 'Where is my son? Like, how come he's not up yet?' I was the only one in the courtroom waiting all morning," she said.

When court broke for lunch from noon until 2 p.m., she still couldn't get any information from Rockwood OPP.

At around 4 p.m., Dzikewich was still sitting in court when a call came in and was played over the speakers.

"They said that my son was in medical distress and had just been rushed to Guelph General Hospital," she said.

"The judge wished me well, gave me a nod and I ran out of that courtroom."

She said she only made it as far as the parking lot before SIU called, telling her to wait at the courthouse for their arrival. 

"I knew to get a call like that that something had really gone wrong," said Dzikewich.