PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. — Members of a coroner's jury are scheduled to begin deliberating later today the deaths of a Prince Rupert, B.C., mother and her severely autistic son.
Thirty-nine-year-old Angie Robinson killed her herself on April 3, 2014, after taking the life of her 16-year-old son Robert.
The week-long coroner's inquest into their deaths heard from 27 witnesses and wrapped up yesterday.
Tracy Beynon of the Ministry of Children and Family Development says workers knew about domestic abuse in the home and suicide attempts by the mother but failed to intervene.
She says workers discussed whether Angie should live in a women's shelter but were unable to provide adequate care for Robert.
Beynon says she had three interactions with Angie in 2013, but none was in person, the ministry received nine reports about incidents of child-safety protection, but closed the mother's case that December because there were no new events.
Dr. Evan Adams of the First Nations Health Authority says jurors must address inequalities in the health-care system.
"It does absolutely sound like this family fell through the cracks, and they didn't receive the kinds of services that would have been helpful to them," says Adams.
"What were the entry points that she, the mom, and the rest of the family, and her extended family, how could they have introduced them into the health system?
