Inquest jury presented with 19 recommendations to prevent people from dying like Attila Csanyi

The five-member jury who has spent two weeks listening about the life and death of Attila Csanyi — the 28-year-old man who died of an overdose on the rooftop of Jackson Square in 2020 — will now have to decide what recommendations, if any, should be made to prevent future deaths.

The inquest began on April 30 and has heard from Csanyi's family, experts and witnesses, including from the city and health-care providers.

It detailed Csanyi's close bond with his twin brother, his traumatic childhood, how he excelled under the care of a loving foster family and how he eventually developed schizophrenia and substance use issues.

It also put a spotlight on how homelessness drastically reduces someone's lifespan and his challenges living at a local residential care facility, Sampaguita Lodge and Rest Home.

Those challenges included allegations, some without much evidence, that Csanyi broke rules and was violent, but also included claims the home improperly evicted him and tried to use police to force him out.

On Monday, the jury heard closing submissions and heard 19 proposed recommendations — all but one of which was supported by the parties involved in the inquest, including the inquest counsel, the Csanyi family, the city, the police and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton.

Recommendations to the province and the city include:

Recommendations to the city include:

The sole recommendation to Sampaguita Lodge and Rest Home is to:

Inquest counsel Jai Dhar said Monday he believed the 18 proposed joint recommendations were "realistic."

He also said Csanyi didn't have stable housing, and while it's unclear that would've saved his life, "but in the absence of stable housing, his chances were grim."

Dhar added housing options that are available for people like Csanyi in Hamilton aren't "appropriate or responsive" to people in similar circumstances.

The family also put forward a recommendation to jurors for the city to create a system that would let people looking for a spot in a residential care facility get more information about each facility.

The recommendation was the only one presented to jurors that didn't get support from the various parties involved.