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Another inmate has died at London’s provincial jail.
Emergency services were called to “an institution in the 700-block of Exeter Road after receiving a 9-1-1 call in relation to an unresponsive male” at about 7:20 p.m. on Thursday, London police say.
Police later confirmed the address was 711 Exeter Rd., the site of Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC).
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“The male was transported to hospital by paramedic services but was later pronounced deceased,” police said.
The investigation is in the hands of the major crime unit, which is working the coroner’s office to determine the cause of death, police said.
It’s the 23rd death at the troubled jail since 2009, and comes just as an inquest into the deaths of seven others was about to begin.
That inquest has been adjourned over legal matters, and it may not take place this fall as planned. Previous inquests into EMDC deaths have made dozens of recommendations to improve conditions, some of them followed and some rejected by the province. Recent inquests have recommended the province shut down the jail and build a new one.
The inquests, other legal proceedings and interviews with inmates, families, lawyers and correctional officers have painted a picture of an institution with entrenched violence, drug smuggling, short-staffing, lockdowns, and gaps in health care and supervision.
In January 2023, following a review of the deaths in correctional custody between 2014 and 2021, a nine-person panel convened by Ontario’s chief coroner released a report with recommendations on how to fix the province’s “increasingly ineffective and unsafe” corrections system and prevent further deaths.
It’s the second death at the jail this year. Bryan Michael Meyers, 35, died on Feb. 16 while waiting for a bail hearing.
The ministry of the solicitor general, which oversees correctional services in Ontario, has yet to comment on the most recent death.
rrichmond@postmedia.com
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