Family of man who died at Hamilton detention centre ‘discouraged’ with inquest process

A coroner’s jury started considering its verdict Friday in the inquest of the death of a man who was being held at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre.

The man’s family, however, told CHCH News they’re not optimistic the coroner’s inquest is going to accomplish much.

The inquest focused on Zakery Rogers of Hamilton, who was 26 when he died at the Barton Street East jail in 2021.

His family is concerned that doctors focused on his history of substance use before he died.

Rogers was waiting for trial for an alleged string of break and enters, when he was found without vital signs in jail four years ago, leaving behind a young family.

In a statement to the inquest, his sister Kylee Rogers said he was “suffering on a jail cell floor alone, his heart slowly failing him, his body shutting down and his lungs becoming congested with fluid.”

Until the inquest, she said they were told his cause of death was “unascertained,” but the inquest produced new information this week.

“That was a shock for us,” said Kylee.

WATCH MORE: Jurors begin hearing details on man who died in custody at Hamilton detention centre

A high-ranking pathologist testified that Rogers died of myocarditis, an infection where the heart muscle is inflamed.

Other doctors played down the heart infection.

“The doctors just wrote it off as an overdose, didn’t consider anything, actually cancelled all the follow up tests and discharged my brother back to a jail cell after just 36 hours, and he died there just a few hours later,” said Kylee.

“The Ontario Chief of Forensic Pathology said someone who’s the highest up in that regard said ‘myocarditis’, but everybody else is trying to discredit that, and just make it seem like it wasn’t myocarditis,” said Tesla Dolan, Rogers’ former partner. “So that was frustrating. I just feel like it was a lot of people that are just trying to cover their butts, and not really owning up to the problem.”

Kylee said Rogers was actually scared to go to the hospital, fearing he would be judged based on his past.

The coroner told the jury Friday to “focus on the cause of death” and whether it can be attributed to myocarditis, while Rogers’ family said the inquest process has been discouraging.

“The hardest part overall was hearing not a single person take an ounce of accountability,” said Kylee. “If one person along the way had done something different, the outcome would have been dramatically different.”

The jury brought in its verdict Friday evening, where they determined the cause of Rogers’ death was myocarditis.

The family told CHCH News they’re happy to hear the verdict.

The jury made a long series of recommendations to improve communications between Hamilton Health Sciences and the detention centre, and to make sure people being released have access to health services.

They also suggested training to counter biases against people in custody, who have a long history of drug abuse, homelessness, or who may have a mental illness.

WATCH MORE: Family remembers man who died in Barton Street jail before inquest