The Fatality Inquiry into the death of a three year old, apparently at the hands of his father in Drumheller in 2008, continued this week in a courtroom in Drumheller.
On September 28, 2008 the toddler was found unresponsive in a sealed room in a home on 4th Street west in Drumheller with his father Richard Saunders. Both perished. Drumheller Emergency Services discovered lethal levels of carbon monoxide in the home that Sunday morning. It was reported a family member found the pair.
Judge P.M. MecIlargey is presiding over the Fatality Inquiry. The Fatality Inquiry sat last spring, before continuing this week. It is scheduled from June 6-17.
A Fatality Inquiry is mandatory in Alberta when a person dies in custody on or off a correctional institution’s premise, in the custody of police and in the case of force being used by a police officer. They are also mandatory in the deaths of involuntary mental health patients and in the deaths of foster children.
Fatality inquiries can be called in other cases outlined in the act, and the public can request that a case be heard, and the Fatality Inquiry Board can make a recommendation for it to proceed.
A fatality inquiry determines the circumstances of a death, and is heard by a provincial court judge. The judge may make recommendations for the prevention of similar incidents, but cannot make any findings of legal responsibility.