No answers for northern Manitoba family whose daughter died in RCMP custody in 2023

A northern Manitoba father says his family still doesn’t have any answers to why or how his daughter died in RCMP custody last year.

The investigation into Janine Walker’s death remains open, but Vernon Highway says he hasn’t even seen her autopsy report.

Janine Walker was 23 when she was detained by RCMP in Chemawawin Cree Nation, about 400 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, in March last year.

She was arrested for being intoxicated, and 15 hours later she was found dead in her cell. 

“I was stunned,” said Vernon Highway, Janine’s father, about how he felt when he learned his daughter was dead.

“I just went crazy, literally. I just dropped, screaming, yelling ‘Why?'” 

Since then he has been on a search for answers. He doesn’t even know her cause of death.

Walker was a loving mother who was always smiling and was close to family, Highway said. Her life revolved around her four children, and she was friendly with everyone in the community, he said.

Highway was with his daughter when RCMP officers picked her up. She was arguing with her boyfriend over a lost phone and officers showed up.

Walker had been drinking the night before, but Highway didn’t think she was intoxicated.

“And then that’s when the cops just took her and said, ‘Well, we’re going to have to take you into the drunk tank if you don’t want to co-operate,'” Highway said. 

That was the last time he saw her alive.

He stopped by the detachment to see if he could pick her up the next morning and instead was greeted by two nurses.

Highway thought maybe he had to sign some papers, but instead he walked into an interview room and sat in front of two RCMP officers who told him his daughter was gone.

Manitoba’s Independent Investigation Unit was called in to investigate Walker’s death. They investigate all serious incidents involving police in Manitoba.

Over a year later, the investigation remains open, but the police watchdog declined to comment. 

CBC News reported Monday on the close of the inquest into the death of John Ettawakapow. The 54-year-old died in an RCMP cell in The Pas in 2019 after he was arrested for public intoxication.

While that inquest brought answers to his family in The Pas, the Walkers remain in the dark. 

“It really bothers me every day, not knowing what happened to her, and I vowed and promised her kids that I will get them answers,” Highway said.

Since her death, Highway quit his job as the assistant manager at the local store. He constantly feels the urge to leave the community to escape the memories of his daughter. 

“I get very lonely around here. I can’t stay here anymore. I have a hard time stabilizing,” he said.

The chief of Chemawawin Cree Nation says the community feels ignored.

“There’s not any kind of reports coming to us. There’s no kind of information coming to us,” said Chief Clarence Easter.

“The RCMP is very tight-lipped. They don’t say anything. I’m assuming the investigation is ongoing, but nobody’s talking to us.”

Howard Morton, who from 1992-95 was director of the Special Investigations Unit, Ontario’s police watchdog, said there needs to be more awareness about what families go through while waiting for these investigations to be completed.

“Do they fully realize the agony?” he asked. “To not know … that really causes a lot of agony for families and friends of the deceased.”