Deaths of two children being investigated in new inquests

The province’s chief medical examiner has called inquests into the deaths of seven Manitobans, including two children who allegedly died at the hands of or through the neglect of their mothers, a man shot during a standoff with police and two prison inmates.

Family members saw the child’s mother standing near the bed holding a bloody knife. The 27-year-old woman was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and found not criminally responsible for the killing.

• Six-week-old King Campbell-Ross of Winnipeg was found dead in his bassinet, Dec. 4, 2023. An autopsy determined he had died of malnourishment.

Alyssa Michelle Ross, the child’s mother, is set to stand trial for manslaughter next year.

• Andrew Joseph Rae, 33, was found in his Stony Mountain Institution cell Dec. 11, 2023, suffering multiple sharp force injuries to his neck. He was pronounced dead in hospital. The manner of death was determined to be suicide.

• Stony Mountain Institution inmate Dean Tyler Young, 37, died July 22, 2024, after he was beaten and stabbed in his cell. Seven inmates have been charged with second-degree murder in his death.

• A Manitoba man was admitted to a Winnipeg hospital in 2024 with mental health concerns when he suffered a fatal penetrating injury to his neck. An autopsy determined the manner of death was suicide.

The man’s name is not being released at the request of his family.

• Bradly Singer, 59, was allegedly wielding an axe and a fire extinguisher when he was shot multiple times during a standoff with Winnipeg police, Feb. 13, 2024. Singer, who was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, died in hospital.

• Elias Whitehead, 37, was the subject of a mental well-being call in October 2023 when he allegedly attempted to enter a Winnipeg Police Service cruiser and was physically restrained and handcuffed by two officers. He was later found unresponsive and taken to Health Sciences Centre, where he was pronounced dead.

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Inquests, which are held in front of provincial court judges, are meant to examine the circumstances of a given death and determine what, if anything, could be done to prevent similar deaths in the future.

The provincial court will determine, at a later date, when and where the inquests will be held.

Inquests are mandatory when an individual dies as a result of police or peace officers using force, when a person dies in a jail or prison, or when held in involuntary care under the Mental Health Act.

The proceedings can also be called into deaths in other circumstances if the chief medical examiner deems it in the public interest.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.