COQUITLAM, B.C. - A caregiver and the British Columbia society that contracted her services have been charged after the death of a 54-year-old woman with a developmental disability in October 2018.
Coquitlam RCMP allege in a news release that the woman did not receive the "necessaries of life," described as adequate food, shelter, medical attention or protection from harm.
The BC Prosecution Service has approved a charge of criminal negligence causing death against 51-year-old Astrid Dahl.
Dahl and the Kinsight Community Society have also been charged with failing to meet their legal duty to provide the necessaries of life to the unnamed woman.
Police say the woman was found dead in a private home.
Few details of the 15-month investigation have been released by police, but Corp. Michael McLaughlin says an "exhaustive" examination was conducted into the months and years leading up to the woman's death.
"This is a very sad situation. We know these charges can't bring the victim back, but perhaps they give a voice to a vulnerable person who couldn't speak for herself," McLaughlin says in a statement.
Court documents show Dahl and the director of Kinsight have been ordered to appear in provincial court in Port Coquitlam in early March.