How Could You? Hall of Shame-Canada-17-Year-old girl’s case-Child Death

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Manitoba,Canada, “A teenager in the care of Manitoba’s Child and Family Services died from a drug overdose last week, and her best friend says the man who gave her the pills should be held accountable for her death.

The girl was 17 years old and living in a foster home near Steinbach, Man., at the time of her death but was originally from Shamattawa First Nation.

The girl’s friend is not being identified by CBC News at this time but is a 24-year-old male. He said that he was the girl’s best friend, that they rarely spent a day apart.

He said the two of them met up with a man who was a known drug dealer to them, who the girl had just begun dating. They met the man at the Subway restaurant in Steinbach around 4:30 p.m. last Wednesday.

They just started dating and he said he would watch over her and he didn’t.– The friend

The alleged drug dealer offered them both pills; the friend declined, but the 17-year-old girl accepted.

“She kept taking pills left, right and centre,” the friend said. “He said they were Oxycontin. He said that they were pretty much beer in a pill, they would make you feel like you were drunk.”

The friend said he tried to discourage the girl from taking so many but he estimates she took about 12 pills over the course of about six hours. He remembers there being two different kinds of pills; some were blue and marked “80 mg,” and the others were brownish-red and marked “30 mg.”

The trio wandered around town and wound up at the skate park around 7:30 p.m.

“She was already pretty messed up. She could barely walk, she couldn’t speak properly,” the friend said.

The girl then began vomiting.

There’s so many drugs going around town that people don’t even know what it is and they’re just popping them without asking questions.– The friend

“I was actually very worried. I kept telling [the drug dealer] he should take her to the hospital and he was like, ‘no it’s all good, she just needs to keep drinking water,'” the friend said.

The two men took the girl to the alleged drug dealer’s parents’ house to get her some food, but she couldn’t keep it down.

The friend left around 9:30 p.m., himself drunk and high on marijuana by that point.

“I started to walk back to town and ended up passing out in the ditch,” he said.

The next morning, a friend told him the 17-year-old girl had died.

“I said, ‘it can’t be. I just saw her last night, she was perfectly fine,'” the friend said. “I was her best friend and they just started dating and he said he would watch over her and he didn’t.”

The friend went and gave a statement to the RCMP. He said they told him they found the girl’s body at the home of the alleged drug dealer.

Not an isolated incident

Several other teenagers in Steinbach told CBC News that they had also been approached by a man trying to hand out and sell what he called Oxycontin over the past couple of weeks.

The girl’s friend said speaking about her death isn’t easy but he doesn’t want it to happen to anyone else.

“People have to know what the hell’s going on in Steinbach. There’s so many drugs going around town that people don’t even know what it is and they’re just popping them without asking questions. Pills and meth are the main drugs in Steinbach and nobody really does the research on anything and they just go out and do them,” he said.

“I do hold [the drug dealer] responsible for it because he said that he had everything under control and things wouldn’t happen and he’d bring her to the hospital. Clearly he didn’t because she’s dead.”

Shamattawa First Nation

The girl’s grandmother in Shamattawa First Nation confirmed the 17-year-old’s death and said the girl was taken into CFS care by the Awasis Agency of Northern Manitoba several years ago.

Jeff Napoakesik, the chief of Shamattawa First Nation, said CFS informed him of what happened last week, but did not give details on the death.

“It’s a shock to the family of course,” he said. “Right now they’re grieving.”

RCMP, children’s advocate investigate

Steinbach RCMP confirmed that officers are actively investigating the girl’s overdose and they told CBC News that an arrest had been made, but the man was released and charges have yet to be laid.

The RCMP also issued warnings about the dangers of recreational drug use.

“Parents, guardians and care providers, please speak to your children and tell them how dangerous this drug is. It will definitely make them ill and may cause death,” the RCMP said in a statement.

Manitoba Family Services Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross said the children’s advocate will also launch an investigation.

“What will happen is there will be recommendations that will be provided to us, which we’ll take extremely seriously, to work together with the agencies and the authorities within the child welfare system,” she said Tuesday.

Irvin-Ross said she gave her condolences to the caregivers and parents of the girl.

“We have more work to do and we need to do that. We need to work together because we’re all part of the solution of supporting young people,” she said.”

17-year-old girl from Shamattawa First Nation dies from overdose while in foster care [CBC 9/15/15]

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