DLM
01-13-2005, 05:59 PM
Ex-guard recounts boy's fatal fall down Edmonton courthouse elevator shaft
JOHN COTTER
EDMONTON (CP) - Kyle Young's mother fled an inquiry in tears Thursday as a former guard recounted how her son fell five storeys to his death down an Edmonton courthouse elevator shaft.
John Tomaino was the senior guard on duty in the young offender cells when Young died last Jan. 22. Tomaino testified that Young - who was wearing shackles, a chain and handcuffs - became angry and started swearing when he was told he wouldn't be fed for hours.
Tomaino and another guard, Const. Ali Fayad, decided to remove Young from the cell to an isolated corner near an elevator to calm him down, but the boy refused.
"He went from zero to 100 in a matter of seconds," Tomaino said of the boy's temper. "He said, 'Hit me. Give me some bruises.' "
The two guards managed to force Young to the elevator, and called in a third guard.
Tomaino said he told the 16-year-old boy he would lose his TV and other privileges at the Young Offenders Centre if he didn't settle down.
But Young didn't pay any attention.
"He had a blank look on his face and kept swearing. He became more aggravated and more aggravated and more aggravated," Tomaino testified.
"He said, 'I am going to kill your family. You are all . . . dead.' "
Tomaino said he then left Young with the other guards, who pressed him against the corner of the elevator.
He then heard a loud "pop" and turned around to see the elevator door hanging awry and the two guards struggling not to fall down the open elevator shaft.
"I heard inmate Young fall," Tomaino said is a hushed voice. "It sounded like he bounced off something, than a sudden bump and a crash."
At that point, Lorena Young, Kyle's mother, darted out of court with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Tomaino said the guards made a series of frantic calls for help.
He also testified the elevator door once came off its track about 2½ years before Kyle's death.
Lorena Young was too upset to comment on Tomaino's testimony.
Her daughter, Amanda Grift, said hearing about the last moments of Kyle's life was emotional and difficult.
But Grift said she accepts Tomaino's account.
"He came up to us during lunch hour yesterday and shook my mom's hand and gave his condolences and said how sorry he was to her about Kyle," she said. "I thought that was pretty brave of him."
The inquiry also viewed a silent security camera videotape of the holding cells immediately before Kyle died.
Lorena Young, who had returned to the hearing, quietly sobbed as she watched grainy black-white images of her son pacing back and forth in his cell as a digital time code counted down the last minutes of his life.
Tomaino testified there should have been a similar videotape of Kyle at the elevator.
There are unconfirmed reports the camera there wasn't on at the time.
The inquiry has heard Kyle had a history of encounters with guards, including hitting a female guard in the stomach two days before he died. There were also two reports he hit and spat on guards in 2003.
Tom Engel, the Young family's lawyer, has said he intends to show that Kyle suffered from mental illness and was treated cruelly by the courthouse and the Young Offenders Centre.
Public fatality inquiries establish the cause, manner, time and other circumstances of a death. They may not determine legal responsibility, but only make recommendations to prevent future deaths.
JOHN COTTER
EDMONTON (CP) - Kyle Young's mother fled an inquiry in tears Thursday as a former guard recounted how her son fell five storeys to his death down an Edmonton courthouse elevator shaft.
John Tomaino was the senior guard on duty in the young offender cells when Young died last Jan. 22. Tomaino testified that Young - who was wearing shackles, a chain and handcuffs - became angry and started swearing when he was told he wouldn't be fed for hours.
Tomaino and another guard, Const. Ali Fayad, decided to remove Young from the cell to an isolated corner near an elevator to calm him down, but the boy refused.
"He went from zero to 100 in a matter of seconds," Tomaino said of the boy's temper. "He said, 'Hit me. Give me some bruises.' "
The two guards managed to force Young to the elevator, and called in a third guard.
Tomaino said he told the 16-year-old boy he would lose his TV and other privileges at the Young Offenders Centre if he didn't settle down.
But Young didn't pay any attention.
"He had a blank look on his face and kept swearing. He became more aggravated and more aggravated and more aggravated," Tomaino testified.
"He said, 'I am going to kill your family. You are all . . . dead.' "
Tomaino said he then left Young with the other guards, who pressed him against the corner of the elevator.
He then heard a loud "pop" and turned around to see the elevator door hanging awry and the two guards struggling not to fall down the open elevator shaft.
"I heard inmate Young fall," Tomaino said is a hushed voice. "It sounded like he bounced off something, than a sudden bump and a crash."
At that point, Lorena Young, Kyle's mother, darted out of court with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Tomaino said the guards made a series of frantic calls for help.
He also testified the elevator door once came off its track about 2½ years before Kyle's death.
Lorena Young was too upset to comment on Tomaino's testimony.
Her daughter, Amanda Grift, said hearing about the last moments of Kyle's life was emotional and difficult.
But Grift said she accepts Tomaino's account.
"He came up to us during lunch hour yesterday and shook my mom's hand and gave his condolences and said how sorry he was to her about Kyle," she said. "I thought that was pretty brave of him."
The inquiry also viewed a silent security camera videotape of the holding cells immediately before Kyle died.
Lorena Young, who had returned to the hearing, quietly sobbed as she watched grainy black-white images of her son pacing back and forth in his cell as a digital time code counted down the last minutes of his life.
Tomaino testified there should have been a similar videotape of Kyle at the elevator.
There are unconfirmed reports the camera there wasn't on at the time.
The inquiry has heard Kyle had a history of encounters with guards, including hitting a female guard in the stomach two days before he died. There were also two reports he hit and spat on guards in 2003.
Tom Engel, the Young family's lawyer, has said he intends to show that Kyle suffered from mental illness and was treated cruelly by the courthouse and the Young Offenders Centre.
Public fatality inquiries establish the cause, manner, time and other circumstances of a death. They may not determine legal responsibility, but only make recommendations to prevent future deaths.