Inquest rules B.C. womans starvation death a homicide, calls for oversight, funding [Video]

An inquest into the death of a woman with Down syndrome who died while living in a caretaker’s home has concluded her death was a homicide, and that she died of starvation and malnutrition.

The inquest has heard that Girard was found dead in Astrid Dahl’s Port Coquitlam home in October 2018. She weighed just 50.6 pounds when she died and lost about 50 pounds in the three months before she died, the inquest heard.

The 54-year-old with Down syndrome had lived under a residential home-sharing agreement with Dahl for about eight years, an arrangement overseen by Kinsight Community Society, a non-profit contracted by Crown corporation Community Living B.C.

Dahl was subsequently convicted of failing to provide the necessaries of life in Girard’s death.

More oversight, more funding recommended

Coroner’s inquests are fact-finding exercises and do not assess fault. However, they are empowered to make recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths in …