Manitoba inmate death: jail guard acquitted [Video]

WINNIPEG –

A Manitoba judge has found a provincial jail guard not guilty in the death of a First Nations inmate following a stand-off in the jail more than three years ago.

Robert Jeffrey Morden, a corrections officer in Manitoba, broke down in tears inside the Manitoba courtroom as Judge Tony Cellitti read his decision.

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“The evidence before me does not satisfy me of Mr. Morden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt on either of the two charges before me,” Cellitti said, acquitting him of the charges.

Morden had been charged with criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessities of life in connection to the death of 45-year-old William Ahmo, an Indigenous inmate at the Headingley Correctional Centre (HCC).

“The death of William Ahmo represents a terrible tragedy,” Cellitti said. “What occurred… has no doubt …