5 years later, family still seeks answers surrounding son’s death at Brantford boarding school

It is the fifth anniversary of Samuel Brown’s death. Brown, who was deaf and blind was found unresponsive at his Brantford boarding school in 2018 and his family is still seeking answers.

READ MORE: Family seeks answers in death of 19-year-old deaf and blind son

Brown would have been turning 24 this year. Instead, his family is still wondering how their son died under the care of a provincially-funded school in Brantford.

On Feb. 9th, 2018, Brown was found unresponsive inside his room at the W. Ross MacDonald School. The shock led the family to request a coroner’s inquest into the nature of Samuel’s death.

READ MORE: Family of a deaf & blind student who died at school calls for an coroners inquest

Public outcry led to the inquest finally being launched virtually in 2020. However, it was postponed to address accessibility concerns by the disability community and to allow more time to explore evidence without the constraints of a virtual environment. Brown’s family is now pushing for another inquest to launch, setting a deadline for tomorrow for the coroner’s office to announce a start date.

The office overseeing the inquest says it’s in the works but says, “the family filed a procedural motion that needs to be dealt with before the inquest can commence… obtaining dates for the motion to be heard had proven to be difficult in recent months…. once the motion is heard and dealt with, dates for the inquest may be set.”

READ MORE: Chief coroner investigates death of teen at Brantford school for the blind

In the meantime, Brown’s family representation is asking municipalities, including Brantford and Hamilton to observe a moment of silence for Samuel on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7:06 a.m. Hamilton mayor Andrea Horwath’s office says she’ll be taking part in the moment of silence.