Coroner’s inquest into starvation death of B.C. woman hears final witness testimony

A coroner’s inquest into the starvation death of a B.C. woman with Down syndrome reached its last day of witness testimony Wednesday.

Court heard testimony from another staff member from the Crown Corporation that contracted nonprofit Kinsight Community Society to oversee the home sharing program where 54-year-old Florence Girard was living when she died.

The staff member testified about the program, including training and funding, and she also talked about how there have been changes to the program in recent years.

Girard, who required around-the-clock care, died in October 2018 from malnutrition and starvation, weighing just 50 pounds, at the time of her death.

She had been living in the home of Astrid Dahl, as part of a home-sharing program.

At the start of the inquest last week, the court heard from Dahl, who was convicted in 2022 of failing to provide the necessities of life.

During her testimony, Dahl talked about how she felt she received very little support from Kinsight, and that if she could go back in time and do things differently, she would.

Before the inquest began Wednesday morning, The Leader Spirit spoke to Girard’s sister, Sharon Bursey, who says the story still doesn’t make any sense.

“There’s poor people everywhere, but they’re making millions, and people are starving, people are being abused and neglected by the system that doesn’t care. If they did, they could do change, but I don’t think they intend to,” said Bursey.

“I really want to make sure that the changes that are pushed or suggested get followed through.”

In total, about a dozen people have testified during the inquest, which lasted a week and a half.

The jury will not be assigning blame, as that’s not the purpose of a Coroner’s inquest. Instead, they will be coming back with some recommendations aimed at preventing a similar death in the future.