In 2016, Shannon Sargent died while she was being held at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Center
The nurse at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Center (OCDC) who testified about the day an inmate was sent to the hospital was told that her timeline might be questioned in future testimony.
Shannon Sargent, who was 34 years old, was in jail on July 20, 2016, when she was found unresponsive.
On Monday, a required investigation into her death began, and it is expected to take 10 days. The jury will decide how and why she died after hearing from witnesses. It may also come up with a list of suggestions to stop other deaths from happening.
On Thursday, the fourth day of the investigation, several lawyers talked to Diane Longmuir, who was the minimal security day nurse at the facility when Sargent died.
This week, the inquest heard that everyone who is admitted to OCDC is checked out by a nurse before being sent to the living area.
But the day before Sargent died, the corrections officer in charge of letting people in, Rhonda Winter, called Longmuir and told him that Sargent needed to be seen right away.
When Longmuir arrived, she said that Sargent, whom she had seen in the institution several times before, looked disheveled and weak and was slouched over, which was not like her. She said that when she checked Sargent’s vital signs, she became very worried.
Had just left hospita
According to a statement of facts that everyone agreed on, Sargent had left the hospital on July 15, even though she had been told not to.
She was arrested on July 18 and kept in an Ottawa Police Service cell overnight while she waited for a bail hearing the next day.
After going to court, she was taken to the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital because she was having chest pains and heart problems. She was then sent back to jail and put in a detention center.
Longmuir said in court that she wanted to take Sargent back to the hospital, but the shift’s lead corrections officer said that wasn’t necessary because Sargent had just been there and was cleared.
Longmuir said that another corrections officer complained that going to the hospital would mess up his plans.
But the lawyer for one of the corrections officers, Leo Russomanno, questioned what she said she remembered about certain events.
He said that he thought both of those officers would dispute the timing in their own testimony and that she couldn’t have argued with both of them at the same time because one ended their shift at 5:30 p.m. and the other didn’t start until 6 p.m.
Russomanno questioned Longmuir’s memory even more by showing her paperwork that had a note about the time.
Sargent got to OCDC just before 4 p.m., and her papers showed that she was finally sent back to the hospital at 6 p.m. But Longmuir said in court that she thought Sargent had been sent away a long time before that.
Longmuir said the paperwork was wrong because she was focused on getting Sargent to the hospital and filled it out afterward.
She said that it was common for people who had been in the hospital to be sent to OCDC without papers from the hospital staff.
More information about escorting patients to the hospita
Corrections officer Erin Montgomery, who was one of two officers who took Sargent to the hospital on July 19, also spoke at Thursday’s hearing.
Montgomery said that the other officer who was supposed to take Sargent to court told her that he didn’t want to because he had plans with his family the next day.
“He looked like he was angry,” Montgomery said.
They did take Sargent to the hospital, and Montgomery testified that she stayed in the van with her while the other officer talked to hospital staff.
Montgomery said that Sargent had been complaining about a sore chest before the ride, but that she told the officers she was fine.
When the other officer came back, he told Montgomery that the hospital would not triage Sargent because they had already seen her earlier that day.
Montgomery said that this seemed strange to her because it had never happened to her before in a hospital. She asked the other officer to explain, and he said again that Sargent was medically cleared to go back to the detention center.
Montgomery has been a correctional officer at OCDC since 1999. She said she got to know Sargent well over the years she was in jail.
Montgomery said that she loved to talk about her family. Montgomery became visibly emotional as she spoke directly to Shauna, Sargent’s daughter.
“Whenever Shannon talked about you, she always had a smile on her face. Montgomery told her, “She would be so happy to show pictures of how well you’re doing and how much you’ve grown.”
On Friday, Montgomery is expected to keep talking.