PoCo caregiver, society charged in 2018 death
Posted January 29, 2020 8:50 am.
Last Updated January 29, 2020 12:33 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PORT COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – A 51-year-old Metro Vancouver woman has been charged after the death of an adult woman she was caring for in 2018.
The company that contracted her — Kinsight Community Society — has also been charged, and is facing one count of failure to perform a legal duty to provide necessaries.
According to the Coquitlam RCMP, a 54-year-old woman with a developmental disability — who was under the care of Astrid Charlotte Dahl — was found dead in a home on Oct. 13, 2018.
Mounties say a 15-month investigation determined the victim “didn’t receive the necessaries of life.”
“This has been an exhaustive investigation into the care of the victim in the years and months leading up to her death,” Corporal Michael McLaughlin with Coquitlam RCMP says. “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.”
He says the coroner confirmed the woman’s death was from malnutrition and starvation.
“It’s impossible as police to not be affected by a file like this, we’re humans too,” McLaughlin says, “These are not routine charges, this is not a routine investigation. But it was very important to use to give a voice to someone who couldn’t speak for herself.”
Dahl is facing one count of criminal negligence causing death, and one count of failing to perform a legal duty to provide necessaries.
Necessaries of life refers to thing needed to preserve life. That includes food, shelter, medical attention, and protection from harm.
Kinsight is being charged as Dahl was in a residential home-sharing agreement with the society. It is being charged with the failure to perform a legal duty to provide necessaries.
