Randy Lampreau (Image Credit: Contributed)

By Sydney Chisholm

coroners inquest

Coroner’s inquest into 2019 death in Kamloops RCMP cell begins

Jul 22, 2024 | 7:00 PM

KAMLOOPS – A BC Coroners Service inquest is underway in Kamloops, stemming from the 2019 death of a man in police custody.

Randy Lampreau, 49, was found dead on March 13, 2019 in a Kamloops RCMP holding cell, after being arrested the previous night for public intoxication.

A 2019 report from BC police watchdog agency – the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) — found Kamloops RCMP officers were not responsible for the man’s death and that police actions were reasonable during the time Lampreau was in custody.

Over four days of the inquest, 15 witnesses are expected to testify.

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In the first day, court heard from Lampreau’s sister Regina Basil, the two arresting officers and two jail guards.

A 2019 BC Coroners Service report – concluded that Lampeau died from inflammation in his heart muscles. Methamphetamine toxicity was another contributing factor.

Coroner’s inquests are public hearings mandatory for any death that occurs while a person was detained by or in the custody of a peace officer.

At the end of the hearing, jury members have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing future deaths under similar circumstances.

Basil hopes the inquest will spark a change in how intoxicated people are detained.

“We want to save any other person from going through the grief we have with my brother Randy,” Basil told CFJC News.

“We’re pushing to get sobering houses started up so that people can be monitored properly and in police custody, [by] somebody that has schooling, that is knowledgeable of symptoms that other people don’t know. That would save lives and save a lot of heartbreak.”

The inquest is slated to wrap up on Thursday.