The BC Coroners Service has scheduled a public inquest into the death of David Singh Tucker who died at the Surrey Pretrial Centre in July of 2016.
Tucker, aged 28, died at the Surrey Pretrial Centre on July 25, 2016 where he was being held in the segregation unit, according to a news release from the BC Coroners Service Friday (Sept. 28).
“Tucker was last seen alive when he was given dinner at about 4 p.m. on July 24, and was later found unresponsive by correctional officers during a check early the next morning,” the release reads.
The inquest is scheduled for Dec. 10 starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Burnaby Coroners’ Court.
Presiding coroner Susan Barth and a jury will hear evidence from witnesses under oath to determine the facts surrounding Tucker’s death, according to the release.
“The jury will have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances. A jury must not make any finding of legal responsibility or express any conclusion of law.”
An inquest, according to the BC Coroners Service, is a formal process that allows for the public presentation of evidence relating to a death.
“The BC Coroners Service looks to gather the facts surrounding why a death took place and is not a fault-finding agency. It provides an independent service to the family, community, government agencies and other organizations.”
Tucker was one of six people charged in May of 2016 in relation to what police called a dozen violent stranger attacks throughout Metro Vancouver.
RELATED: Five men, one teen charged in a dozen violent attacks in Metro Vancouver
“Over the past three months, a number of high-profile assaults against women — the majority of them sexual in nature — have taken place in the UBC endowment lands, Vancouver, North Vancouver and Burnaby,” RCMP Chief Supt. Jodie Boudreau told reporters in May of 2016.
At the time, Tucker was charged in a sexual attack at UBC in April of the same year. He was accused of sexual assault causing bodily harm, forcible confinement, robbery, break and enter and wearing a mask with intent to commit and indictable offence.
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