Family of Carson Crimeni demands justice 2 years after teen's death

Vancouver -

Carson Crimeni would have turned 16 on July 2. Instead of celebrating, the family of the Langley teenager is calling for action.

Carson's loved ones marked his birthday by gathering at the Walnut Grove skate park on Friday evening, where the teenager is believed to have used a lethal amount of drugs on Aug. 7, 2019.

“He was my only grandchild,” said Darrel Crimeni, as he explained how painful the past two years have been without Carson.

The Crimeni family believes Carson died as a result of peer pressure from other teenagers, who they say forced the 14-year-old to overdose at the skate park. The family is frustrated Crown counsel has not laid charges 23 months after the boy’s death.

“For no charges to be pressed for two years, the message that they’re sending is that this is OK. To overdose a child with a lethal amount of drugs is acceptable,” said Aron Crimeni, Carson’s father.

On the day of Carson’s death, video of him seemingly in medical distress at the skate park circulated on the social media app Snapchat. After seeing the video, someone alerted Langley RCMP. Two officers attended the scene, but left after being unable to locate the teenager. Two hours later, he was found in the park and rushed to the hospital, where he died.

In 2019, B.C.’s police watchdog investigated the actions of the two attending officers who failed to find Carson and determined they were not negligent. The Independent Investigations Office did not recommend charges be laid against the Mounties.

The Crimeni family is in communication with the RCMP and Crown counsel, and remains hopeful charges will be laid. They say it would bring some semblance of closure to Carson’s loved ones.

“They say they’re working on it, but we’ve been hearing that consistently for the last two years now,” said Crimeni’s father.​