Dana Da Silva is marking a grim anniversary today.
On Dec. 22 of last year, her common-law husband Tyler McCue died at the Central North Correctional Centre where he was staying following an incident in August.
“I lost my Dad (Mike Stillwell) on Nov. 12, 2021 and then I lost Tyler almost a year to the date,” says Da Silva, her voice heavy with emotion.
“I don’t have Tyler’s help now with the kids for Christmas.”
While Da Silva has two children of her own, McCue left behind three daughters. They were together for nearly three years and were living in Loretto.
“I don’t think Tyler should have died that day,” says Da Silva, who now lives in Collingwood and questions whether staff at the Penetanguishene jail effectively treated his various medical conditions.
“I was dealing with the ombudsman to get him medication for his schizophrenia. Tyler heard 18 different voices, which is crazy.”
To emphasize her frustrations and back up her assertions, Da Silva points to a coroner’s report she recently received.
“That’s what bugs me more,” she says. “I don’t know how he died. I’d rather the coroner called and said Tyler had a heart attack."
The report obtained by MidlandToday lists the cause of death as “undetermined.” But it also notes that "given the history, intestinal findings and the absence of another clear cause of death, the most reasonable cause of death is complications of enterocolitis."
“He was complaining of abdominal pain and started to vomit,” Da Silva says as she recounts a visit with McCue the day before he died.
“I guess he was in pain for four or five days. I just wanted him to get the help he needed and that jail didn’t help him at all.”
According to the coroner's report, McCue had been prescribed Abilify, Biphentin and Elavil two days before his death and was also on methadone.
"Post mortem did not determine the clinical cause of death," notes the report completed by Dr. Herman Jilesen, who points out McCue suffered a range of injuries likely related to unsuccessful attempts to revive him while the toxicology report determined the drugs in his system were at a "therapeutic" level.
"The death will be considered for a future inquest due to the conditions and location of the deceased at the time of death," the report further notes.
But Da Silva is also unhappy with how things transpired after McCue's death, pointing out that the jail didn’t even call her to tell her McCue had died, but rather reached out to another family member.
“I was his spouse on paper,” she says, noting they had planned to officially get married on August 31, 2022, the day he was arrested on a charge that led to his incarceration.
“One of the voices in his head was chasing Tyler when he had the (stolen) truck and he was trying to run away from it,” she says. “He was scared to get help for his schizophrenia because he thought he’d get locked in a rubber room.”
Da Silva says she isn’t seeking any sort of compensation for McCue’s death while in custody, but “just wants justice for Tyler.”
“I’m part of a support group. There are a lot of people who have died in Ontario jails since 2020. It’s sickening. We need to look at what things can be changed to make things better.”
An ongoing study involving a number of partners, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and initiatives at Carleton University, Queen's University and the University of Toronto, is looking into the number of people who have died in Canada after 'police-involved' and custodial deaths over the past couple of decades.
Called Tracking (In)Justice, the project reports there have been 1,532 deaths in custody since 2000 with 63 reported so far this year.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Solicitor General, which oversees the jail, says the ministry can't comment specifically on McCue's death, but that it takes all inmate deaths very seriously.
“Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones,” Andrew Morrison tells MidlandToday.
But Morrison says it’s not appropriate for the ministry to comment in detail on an inmate death as coroner and ministry investigations are ongoing.
“The Office of the Chief Coroner is responsible for conducting death investigations, determining cause of death and whether and when an inquest will take place,” Morrison says, who also refuted Da Silva’s assertion that senior jail staff would have prohibited correctional officers from attending McCue’s funeral earlier this year had they wanted to do so.
“Ministry correctional staff are required to abide by a code of conduct while on and off duty,” Morrison explains. “The code of conduct does not prohibit correctional staff from offering condolences or attending a funeral.”
As for McCue, he was no stranger to the justice system.
MidlandToday has published a number of stories about his exploits, including one from 2020 where McCue and two others were charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault after a man was stabbed at a Frederick apartment building.
And just six months earlier, McCue was wanted on an arrest warrant on a charge of robbery with a weapon in connection with an incident on Lescaut Road in Midland. A year before that, McCue and another man were charged with aggravated assault connected to an incident at a Burke Street residence in Penetanguishene.
Da Silva and McCue became an item following his incarceration for the Frederick Street incident after being introduced by a mutual friend.
“When he was in jail, I started talking to him,” she explains. “We told each other everything. We had the same kind of problems, but they were different at the same time.
“We fell in love through writing each other messages and phone calls. He was lovable and would give you the shirt off his back.”
McCue was getting help for his mental health issues, according to Da Silva, who said he suffered from not just schizophrenia, but also addiction and attention deficit disorders. He also smoked fentanyl, according to Da Silva, which made his schizophrenia even worse.
“Tyler was an amazing guy,” she says. “The schizophrenia really messed him up. He would say, ‘the police work for me.’ That’s how bad his schizophrenia was.”
And so, Da Silva will try to get through a difficult day and a challenging holiday period without the love of her life.
“It’s lonely to be honest,” Da Silva says. “We had a life plan together and now it’s gone.
“I still kind of wait for him to call.”
