Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press Published Saturday, November 26, 2022 1:50 PM EST Last Updated Saturday, November 26, 2022 3:52 PM EST
DIEPPE, NB – A New Brunswick mother is still reeling after she said she woke up Tuesday morning to news from the RCMP that her son had died, only to discover hours later that police had made a mistake.
Donna Price said her 29-year-old son has faced homelessness and mental health issues, adding that she believes the police’s disregard for people experiencing those issues contributed to the RCMP’s mistake.
Price said Saturday that he intends to file a lawsuit against police to ensure that police follow the proper protocols for identifying people who have died and notifying their families, regardless of their life circumstances.
“They all have their stories,” Price said in an interview. “They have parents, they have grandparents, they have brothers and sisters. And nobody here in Moncton is listening.
Price declined to name her son to protect his privacy.
The ordeal began shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday when Price said she heard a knock and looked outside to see police car lights outside her home in Dieppe, NB. She invited the two young RCMP officers and they told her that her son had died of an overdose in the nearby city of Moncton.
Devastated, Price called his father and siblings to deliver the devastating news, and they all came in the middle of the night. Later in the morning, she broke the news to her elderly parents.
When the medical examiner’s office called to ask if she wanted her son cremated and to ask for his identification, Price said she called someone else to go to his home to get the information and any mementos , which he can keep.
That person found her son at home safe and alive, she said.
“I literally asked them 10 times because I didn’t believe it,” she said. It had been 13 hours since the police first knocked on her door.
Price was calm as she told her own story, speaking clearly and carefully. But her voice broke when she spoke about the dead man’s family.
“This family grieving today has been robbed since 1 p.m.,” she said. “These were not our classes. This belonged to them, to gather their family and grieve as a family. I feel they are being ripped off.
Price said she had a lot of pointed questions when she called the RCMP to say they had made a mistake, but police did not respond. They also asked her to provide proof of her son’s life, she said.
A sergeant and a police officer came to her home later that afternoon and apologized, but only after she pressed them for more information, she said. She was eventually told that officers took pictures of the deceased man and sent them to the police. One or more members said they recognized the man as her son.
Moncton attorney Brian Murphy said the case is of significant public concern.
“If this is how the police identify the deceased, we should all think twice. But it’s not,” Murphy said in an interview Saturday. “If this was a businessman from the north end or something, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be so loose.”
Murphy will represent the Price family in the lawsuit they intend to file, though he said no court documents have yet been filed.
“This should not have happened to any other family and it should not have happened to the family of the deceased,” he said.
Guillaume Belanger of the New Brunswick RCMP said Saturday that police were aware of the error but could not comment further on the case.
Meanwhile, Price and her family are left to deal with many conflicting emotions.
“We don’t know how to feel. We are very excited, very sad. We are very confused,” she said. “We’re just trying to just go through the motions and be nice to each other.”
Price said he hopes the case also prompts municipal and provincial governments to do more to protect Moncton’s vulnerable population. The man who died was turned away from city shelters that night because they were too full. He had survived an overdose at a recovery center earlier Monday morning, and staff there couldn’t find him a warm place to sleep.
“There are resources. Spread the money where it needs to go,” she said. “It’s getting cold outside. They cannot stay out.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 26, 2022.
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