More than three years after the mysterious death of a psychiatric patient at the Saint John Regional Hospital, a coroner’s inquest got underway on Friday.
Serena Perry, 22, was found dead in the hospital’s amphitheatre on Feb. 14, 2012.
According to hospital records, she was found on her back with a bathrobe tied loosely around her neck.
A coroner’s inquest to answer the many lingering questions surrounding the death was scheduled to being in March of last year, but was delayed by legal arguments over how many lawyers would be allowed to participate.
On Friday in Saint John, the coroner’s inquest began with the selection of a five-person jury.
“It took too long. Three years I’ve been waiting for this,” said Rose Perry, Serena’s mother.
“All I want is the truth to come out.”
The inquest’s task will be to examine what happened to Serena Perry, why charges were never laid, and to make recommendations that could prevent a similar tragedy in the future.
“Hopefully, at the end of the day, we hear from the appropriate witnesses and we find out what happened to Serena in that room that night,” said John Gillis, the family’s lawyer.
Police initially investigated the death as a homicide, but charges were never laid, because police said the precise cause of death could not be determined.
“She was gone back to the hospital that day, to have help and come home a week later, and she’s been dead now for three years and four months,” said Tasha King, Serena’s sister.
John Barry, the lawyer for the hospital, said it will be important to examine the care and security provided for mental health patients.
“The security issues and the human rights factors of mental health patients, and where is that balance to be drawn,” Barry said.
“We’re not in the Dark Ages, nor do we lock people away, and we’re not in even the 1960s where people are permanently institutionalized,” he said.
The inquest will hear from 50 witnesses over a period of three weeks.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron
