‘Very painful’: Myles Gray’s family unsure they will attend April inquest Globalnews.ca

The family of a man who died during an altercation with Vancouver police seven years ago says they doubt they will join the investigation into his death.

Miles Grey, 33, was unarmed when he died in a backyard on the Vancouver-Burnaby border in August 2015. Police were called when they confronted a homeowner for allegedly watering his lawn during a drought.

“It’s going to be absolutely terrifying,” Gray’s mother Margie Gray told Global News. “It’s going to be very painful. It’s going to be probably two long weeks.

Adding insult to injury, Margie said, she learned about the inquest from a local reporter rather than from the BC Coroners Service.

“I didn’t know about it and nobody in my family knew about it, so I felt very angry,” she said. “It’s just frustrating. There’s really no communication, no respect for the family. Very inconsiderate.”

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Responding Vancouver police officers restrained Gray’s arms and legs, punched, kicked and kneed him, pepper-sprayed him and hit him with batons.

His injuries were so severe that a cause of death could not be determined. An autopsy revealed that he had suffered a fractured voice box, a ruptured testicle, a broken nose, sternum and eye socket, and a dislocated jaw.

Gray’s hands and feet were also bound.

“The coroner told us, ‘Miles’ body speaks for him. His injuries will speak for him.’ But even then, they were like, ‘Oh, it was inconclusive,’ so no, that doesn’t speak for anything,” said Grey’s sister Melissa Grey.

“And then we can’t even be there because it’s so painful. So it’s quite a frustrating situation.

BC’s civilian police watchdog, the Office of Independent Investigations, conducted a lengthy investigation into the actions of the responding officers, some of whom were also injured in the brawl.

However, the investigation was hampered due to lack of co-operation on the part of some officials.

The IIO filed a report to the BC Prosecution Service for consideration of charges in 2019, but the Crown declined to press charges, saying only that it could not prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the officers did not commit the incident. committed any offense in relation to .

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The service said within 20 minutes of the first officers’ arrival, Gray was unconscious, restrained with hand and foot restraints and was “sustaining obvious injuries.” According to the Prosecution Service, he went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

On the afternoon of August 13, 2015, police were called by a caller who described Gray as agitated and upset.

The only witnesses to the incident were the seven VPD officers at the scene and Gray himself.

“These are the same people who were unwilling to cooperate, and we are going to sit there and listen to what they have to say? My brother is not there to speak for himself, so they can say whatever they want,” Melissa he said.

“The timeline has 20 unaccounted minutes. The timeline is so messed up. One of the reasons Crown didn’t charge was because of that timeline, they didn’t know who did what and when,” Margie said.

“What they did to Miles is crazy. It’s crazy. So why is he being protected so much?”

While Crown prosecutors did not lay charges, the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner is still conducting its own investigation under the Police Act, which may conclude misconduct, although not criminal liability.

The coroner’s inquest — which is mandated under B.C. law any time someone dies in conversation with police — is designed only to determine the facts surrounding Gray’s death, and cannot find fault. Is.

The inquiry is scheduled to begin on April 17. The list of witnesses has not been released yet.

With files from The Canadian Press

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