Quebec’s Bureau of Independent Investigation (BII) is looking into how a 24-year old man died after being locked in a jail cell in the Cree community of Waskaganish, 1055 km northwest of Montreal on the shores of James Bay.
According to a statement released by the Eeyou Eenou Police, officers were called to a residence in the community at around 1 p.m. on Mon. Jan., 1 and found Brandon Stephen, a father of two, intoxicated and threatening to harm himself.
Police said he was then taken into custody.
(On November 16, Stephen wrote ‘Keep your head up even thou you feel like giving up’ on his Facebook page)
According to police, Stephen was up and moving in his cell but at about 11 p.m. he informed guards that he wasn’t feeling well.
He was then transferred to the medical clinic in the community where he died at around 3 a.m.
The release states that investigators arrived in Waskaganish on Tuesday and have started an investigation.
This is the second case of a man in northern Quebec dying after being involved with police.
On December 29, the BII said it was investigating a police shooting that took the life of a 22-year old man in Umiujaq, 580 km north on the coast of Hudson Bay.
Brandon was an exceptional young man. He was kind, respectful, and loved the traditional way of life as taught to him by his father. He was a great provider of traditional food for his family, and a loving father to his children. Gone too soon and will be greatly missed. Just wanted ya’ll to know that.
Brandon was an exceptional young man. He was kind, respectful, and loved the traditional way of life as taught to him by his father. He was a great provider of traditional food for his family, and a loving father to his children. Gone too soon and will be greatly missed. Just wanted ya’ll to know that.