Warning: This article contains details that may be disturbing for some readers. The mother of an Orillia man who died, over the weekend, while in police custody is seeking answers as the province’s police watchdog determines what happened. Shelley Greer made the drive from New Brunswick to Orillia to bury her 44-year-old son, John Jr., also known as John Boy, who was found dead inside a holding cell Monday morning at the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Orillia detachment, following his arrest. “I want everything brought out,” said Greer in response to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) being called in to investigate her son’s death. “I want all the tapes, I want all the videos because, to me, there is no way that that boy was monitored properly. If he was, this would not have happened.” It has been nearly a week since the father of two was found lifeless by police, according to the SIU, inside his cell about 12 hours after Greer Jr. and his younger brothers, Jeremy and Jobi, were arrested for what the SIU described as a “disturbance” Sunday night in Orillia. “This should never have happened. They should’ve had someone monitoring him at all times,” said Greer’s mother, who said she works as an addictions’ worker. Greer noted her son battled an addiction to fentanyl and that he was rushed to hospital weeks earlier after suffering a medical emergency while in police custody at the same Orillia OPP detachment. “Put on life support and that’s what kept him alive for five days till they could take the ventilator out and his breathing was okay,” said Greer, who did not know what caused the earlier medical emergency. “Until the toxicology comes back, we don’t know on this either.” The OPP told CTV News it could not “confirm or discuss details of previous police interactions or occurrences.” “I’ve seen days where I sit with people that are under the influence and it doesn’t matter if it’s eight, 10 hours that you have to sit beside them to make sure that they’re breathing and they’re alive so that their loved ones have them the next day… you do it, because somebody loves them. They are human beings,” Greer’s mother said. According to court records obtained by CTV News, Greer and his brothers were charged by provincial police Sunday with assault with a weapon and forcible confinement. Jobi and Jeremy Greer were later granted bail. Their mother wants to know why, given John’s extensive history with police, he wasn’t monitored, if there were concerns he could overdose. “You do not die instantly,” said Greer, having witnessed the consequences of an overdose. “It is a slow death. That breathing slowly shallows and then they pass, but there’s lots of time if they’re being monitored to bring them back.” The cause of her son’s death has not been revealed. Court documents show Greer Jr. had a lengthy criminal record accused of dealing drugs, assault and breaching release conditions. He had been scheduled to return to court for a pre-trial in November. Greer Jr., and his brothers have been accused of drug possession and trafficking and arrested several times dating back more than a decade. “That’s part of the lifestyle that they live,” said Greer of her sons’ criminal history. “It doesn’t make them bad people, they’re addicts, but if everything ain’t brought out and there isn’t negligence found, I am going to be hiring a lawyer because I won’t let this go,” she said. “No parent should ever have to go through this when their child is in police care.” While Greer’s family search for answers, his brothers are scheduled to make their first appearance in an Orillia virtual courtroom in mid-November. The allegations against them have not been tested in court.
