Crime unit returns investigation into teenager’s death to VicPD

A mother who believes her teenage daughter was killed with a lethal dose of date rape drug says she is “devastated and extremely disappointed” that the investigation into her daughter’s death was referred back to Victoria police, who did not initially recommend charges.

Victoria police Chief Del Manak told the city of Victoria last week that police had referred the case to the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit.

The move comes after the BC Coroner’s Office ruled that the 2021 death of Samantha Sims-Somerville, initially thought to be accidental, was a homicide.

But Tracy Sims was told on Monday that the major crimes unit met with VicPD’s senior investigators on November 7 and told them the death did not meet the unit’s “threshold for response”.

In an email sent to Sims, Times ColonistAn RCMP officer with the major crime unit told Sims that the office considered the known facts about the investigation before making its decision.

The major crime unit, which consists of officers from the RCMP and municipal forces, manages and investigates suspected culpable homicides and missing persons cases, but no longer investigates suspicious sudden deaths, the officer told Sims.

“We made a recommendation as to who would be best suited to conduct a comprehensive case review and Victoria Police investigators accepted this recommendation. The decision to proceed with this review rests with Victoria Police,” he wrote.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Alex Bérubé referred questions to VicPD about why the investigation did not meet VIIMCU’s threshold; VicPD declined an interview request and did not answer questions about the timing of Manak’s request to the major crimes unit.

It’s unclear whether Manak knew the major crime unit had referred the investigation to VicPD when he addressed council last week.

Sims has been fighting for justice for his daughter for the past three and a half years, including filing blasphemy charges as a private citizen against those he believed were responsible.

She believes her daughter and a friend were taken to a flat on Yates Street and drugged with lethal doses of GHB, gamma-hydroxybutyrate, a central nervous system depressant known as the date rape drug.

The two were rushed from the apartment to the hospital on April 9, 2021, but Sims-Somerville died the following evening due to lack of oxygen to her brain caused by the combination of alcohol and drugs in her system. His friend survived a near-fatal overdose of GHB and Rohypnol.

The BC Prosecution Service stayed the trial because the case did not meet the required standard of having a high likelihood of conviction based on the evidence and that the prosecution was in the public interest.

Sims pressured the BC Coroner’s Office to reopen the investigation into her daughter’s death, and the agency agreed, saying new evidence was found that was not available when the previous investigation was completed. Last month, the teenager’s death was reclassified as a homicide.

“Follow-up investigation uncovered evidence that Samantha and her friend were knowingly administered an unregulated substance by another person at the residence, without their knowledge,” it says, calling “homicide” a neutral term that does not imply any fault or fault. blame.

Sims said she tried to remain hopeful after Manak said she wanted an investigation from the major crimes unit, but the system failed her daughter again.

“Just when I was hoping that I might find some peace after three and a half years of grueling, exhausting struggle, I experienced yet more frustration and disappointment,” he said.

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