'I believe I had checked well enough': Worker at B.C. group home where Cree teen found dead in closet testifies
Warning: This story contains details that readers may find disturbing.
A worker at the B.C. group home where Traevon Desjarlais was found dead in his closet days after he went missing told a coroner's inquest he checked the teen's room repeatedly – but there was no sign of him.
Desjarlais, who was 17 when he died in 2020, was Cree and living in an Abbotsford facility operated by the Fraser Valley Aboriginal Children and Family Services Society under contract to the provincial government.
Murray McMaster, who worked at the home at the time, said he reported Deslarlais' disappearance to the Ministry of Children and Family Development on Sept. 14, after finding his room empty.
He testified he repeatedly checked the home and Desjarlais’ bedroom, which had numerous large holes in the walls, in the days that followed.
"I went in. I looked around. I looked under the bed. I looked for any signs he had been back in there and I didn’t see any,” McMaster said, providing his testimony at the inquest by video link Thursday.
When asked if he had checked the closet, McMaster said, “I believe I had checked well enough.”
FOUL SMELL PROMTS FURTHER ACTION
But three days after the teen's disappearance, McMaster told the inquest, he noticed a smell coming from the basement.
"That’s when I started searching other areas of the house, the boiler room, under the stairs,” he testified, appearing by video link.
By Sept. 18, McMaster said it was "starting to enter my mind that he might be down there and I wasn’t finding him…That fear was in the back of my mind, yes.”
But he said he did not convey that fear to Abbotsford Police or tell them about the foul smell until they showed up at the home later that day.
Officers found Desjarlais’ body hanging in his bedroom closet shortly after arriving.
Desjarlais’ mother was at the inquest and wept as the worker testified, leaving the room at one point when she was overcome with emotion.
TEEN'S MENTAL HEALTH WAS DETERIORATING
A transcript of McMaster's Sept. 15 call to police, when he first reported Desjarlais missing to law enforcement, was also read at the inquest Thursday.
It indicated McMaster had not told them the teen was suicidal. However, earlier testimony indicated Desjarlais had made a suicidal comment the month prior.
McMaster said he called Abbotsford Police at that time, but was told they didn’t have cause to apprehend the teen under the Mental Health Act.
After that, McMaster said, Desjarlais' mental health further deteriorated.
“His behavior had become very erratic and I believe it was the reliving of trauma from events outside the home. He was struggling a lot,” McMaster said of the teen’s condition in September of 2020.
He also testified that, “I’m not trained to take somebody through trauma. I reached out for help.”
The worker said he did not believe Desjarlais was taking his medication at the time of his death and that Desjarlais had a history of going missing from the home.
An inquest into the teen's death was not mandatory, however one was ordered by the BC Coroners Service earlier this year because "there is reason to believe that the public has an interest in being informed of the circumstances."
While an inquest cannot make findings of fault, it has three main functions, according to the province: to determine the facts surrounding the death; to make recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths in the future; and "to ensure public confidence that the circumstances surrounding the death of an individual will not be overlooked, concealed or ignored."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.
Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
B.C. judge orders shared dog custody for exes who both 'clearly love Stella'
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a B.C. judge has awarded a former couple joint custody of their dog.
Saskatoon police to search landfill for remains of woman missing since 2020
Saskatoon police say they will begin searching the city’s landfill for the remains of Mackenzie Lee Trottier, who has been missing for more than three years.
Shivering for health: The myths and truths of ice baths explained
In a climate of social media-endorsed wellness rituals, plunging into cold water has promised to aid muscle recovery, enhance mental health and support immune system function. But the evidence of such benefits sits on thin ice, according to researchers.