Richelle Dubois slept overnight outside the Regina Police headquarters on Monday. Photo by Manfred Joehnck.
The mother of a 14-year-old aboriginal boy is demanding more answers from police about her son’s death.
Haven Dubois, 14, drowned in a shallow creek in east Regina last May. Police ruled out foul play and the coroner’s office determined the death was accidental, caused in part by smoking marijuana.
The coroner’s report suggested Dubois had not smoked marijuana before and he had a bad reaction to it, causing him to end up in the creek and drown.
His mother, Richelle, has stepped up her campaign to get more information, saying she wants a copy of the police report into the death and wants another meeting with police.
Last night Richelle parked her van in front of the Regina police station to stage a campout. Tuesday morning, about a half dozen members of the Saskatchewan Coalition Against Racism joined her.
Dubois is not convinced the coroner or the police followed all of the leads.
“The family did bring forth some information, we want to make sure it was looked into and that they followed up on those leads that we brought them,” she said. “That is something that I would like to talk to them about first before I come out and say anything. You know I’m not going to come out and start slandering anyone right now until I have all the facts.”
For its part, the Regina Police Service says it did a full and complete investigation. Deputy chief Dean Rae said he has reached out to the Dubois family and is prepared to meet with Richelle to discuss the police investigation.
However, Rae said Richelle will not receive a full and unedited version of the police report. That is something that isn’t done because police need to protect third parties and others who may have contributed to the investigation, he said.
“We have never released a full report to a member of the public. We have gone through and vetted reports and sat down in a meeting to review that report and that may be something we will contemplate,” Rae said.
He does say the police will provide her with as much information as it can.
As for communication delays Richelle has cited, Deputy Chief Rae said the department’s legal council is away on holidays right now and that is why there has been a delay in setting up a meeting with Dubois. He does expect to be able to meet with her within the next week.
Richelle said she was somewhat encouraged by his response, but would like to meet sooner. She also said she is filing a complaint against the police for what she calls, “giving her the runaround.”
Finally, Richelle said she plans to maintain her vigil at the police station until she gets her meeting.