Wolastoqey Nation Welcomes Inquest Into Inmate’s Death

The Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick says it welcomes a coroner’s inquest into the death of an inmate in Saint John.

Skyler Sappier-Solomon of Tobique First Nation died at the Saint John Regional Hospital early last Monday.

He was transported there two days earlier from the nearby Saint John Regional Correctional Centre.

Officials have not said how the 28-year-old man died, but the community’s chief has said it was from COVID-19.

In a news release Monday, the Wolastoqey Nation said it hopes a coroner’s inquest can prevent future tragedies and “improve the conditions for inmates in the province’s correctional system.”

“Indigenous people have a well-founded and deep mistrust of the justice and correctional system in New Brunswick, and we have hard questions to ask about what happened at the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre and the Saint John Regional Hospital,” said the release.

In a previous interview, Chief Ross Perley of the Tobique First Nation said family members were told that Sappier-Solomon had been sick for days and complained of breathing difficulties before being hospitalized.

“I think the family wants to know why he wasn’t sent to the hospital sooner, and that may have saved his life,” he said.

The Wolastoqey Nation said it expects “expediency and thoroughness” from the coroner’s inquest, the date of which has not yet been set.

“It has been proven time and again that the people of our Nation do not have the benefit of passing time.”