Jury in coroner’s inquest on starvation death needs more time to deliberate

After one full day of deliberations at a coroner’s inquest into the death of a developmentally disabled woman who starved to death in government care, the jury has gone home for the evening and will resume its closed-door discussion on Friday morning.

Florence Girard, who had Down syndrome, was part of Community Living BC’s home share program through an organization called Kinsight Community Society.

She lived in the Port Coquitlam home of Astrid Dahl, her paid caregiver, at the time of her death from malnutrition.

She weighed just 55 pounds at the time of her death and Dahl was eventually convicted of failing to provide the necessaries of life.

She received a 15-month sentence, but managed to avoid spending any time behind bars.

The inquest jury of three women and two men is charged with classifying Girard’s death and coming up with recommendations to prevent similar deaths from happening in the future.