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Jury begins deliberating at inquest into Hamilton teens’ death

The jury has begun deliberating at the inquest into Devon Freeman’s death.
The Indigenous teen disappeared from his group home in Flamborough in 2017 and was found dead on the property months later.
Jurors will not be seeking a verdict of blame, instead, they will be discussing recommendations that could help save other kids in the child welfare system.
Those overseeing the inquest into 16-year-old Freeman’s death spoke of the important work the jurors now have ahead of them, “in making recommendations, you are speaking for Devon and all Indigenous children in care.”
The inquest has heard that Freeman didn’t like living at the Lynwood Charlton group home in Flamborough, but he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.
Freeman had had suicidal thoughts and had even attempted to take his own life, but the inquest heard that some of the most important people involved in his care didn’t know about this or didn’t pass along the information to others.
“The failure to communicate lies at the heart of this tragic death,” counsel for the Ministry of Children said today.
In October 2017, Freeman left his group home, he was missing for 6 months, until he was found dead in a forested area on the property. His death was deemed a suicide.
The jury has to come to a verdict answering 5 questions, who died, when and where did they die, what was the cause of death, and the manner of death.
They have also been presented with 74 recommendations that propose changes to the child welfare system, Hamilton police, and other organizations. They can either accept all of them, none of them, or some of them. Most parties support all of the recommendations, except the Ministry of Children which says recommendations involving funding and legislation are beyond the scope of the inquest.
The jurors have as much time as they need to deliberate. The parties will have an obligation to respond to and comply with the recommendations the jurors decide on in an effort to prevent more tragedies like this.