Court sees video of inmate's final hours in Manitoba jail on 1st day of corrections officer's trial

Footage of William Ahmo's final hours inside a Manitoba jail was shown in a Winnipeg courtroom Friday, during the start of a trial for a correctional officer facing charges in the man's death.

Robert Jeffrey Morden is charged with criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide necessariesof life related to the death of Ahmo, 45, who was an inmateat Headingley Correctional Centre when he died more than two years ago.

Inmate repeatedly says he can't breathe in video shown to court on first day of trial

1 year ago

Duration 1:33

Video of William Ahmo's final moments inside a Manitoba jail are shown in court on first day of trial for a corrections officer. Ahmo died 7 days after the altercation with guards on Feb. 14, 2021.

Ahmowasat Headingley, a provincial jail about 20 kilometres west of Winnipeg, when an altercation took place in the evening of Feb. 7, 2021, RCMP said last year when Morden was charged.

Following astandoff between corrections officers and Ahmo in a common room at the jail, Ahmo was taken to hospital in medical distress. Hedied a week later.

Manitoba's chief medical examiner ruled Ahmo's death a homicide.

On Friday, court was shown more than two hours of video from Feb. 7, 2021.

In one video,Ahmois seen pacing in a common area,appearing to be agitated. At one point he rips a water tank off the wall, causing aleak acrossthe floor of the unit.

In the video, inmates can be heard being told to return to their cells. All complied except Ahmo, who was left alone in the main floor shared space.

In a second video, taken by an officer from behind a protective window, Ahmo is seen throwing objects at the glass, including a television. He also whipped the glass with a cord.

A nearby door was opened by correction centre staff and what appears to be pepper spray was used onAhmo whenever he approached the door. Ahmoisseen repeatedly rubbing his eyes with towels, and officers can be heard coughing.

At one point,Ahmo returns to the office with a large metal item, and isseen trying to break the glass.

'I can't breathe'

As the altercation escalated,crisis negotiator Michel Jolicoeur, who works for Manitoba Justiceat Headingley, was brought in, the video shows.

Jolicoeur was thefirst witness to speak in court Friday. In the video, he is seen and heard trying to calm Ahmo down andasking him what happened. Ahmosays he wasupset with how correctional officers treat inmates.

Ahmothen tells Jolicoeur about a racist joke that anofficer told him. Ahmo, who was originally from Sagkeeng First Nation, says he felt disrespected.

At another point in the video,Jolicoeur, who wasstill meeting with Ahmoin the common area,turns to the officers watching from behind the protective glass.JolicoeursaysAhmo is a suicide high risk, telling the officers"he says he wants to die and go to heaven."

Later, about a dozen officers from a tactical unit, led byMorden, are seen entering the common area.

Projectiles are shot at Ahmo and the officers are seen swarming him and holding him down with shields, the video shows.

Officers are then seen transferring Ahmo to a chair to detain him. Theyput a spit mask on his head.

"I can't breathe," he says repeatedly for several minutes. Eventually,he loses consciousness.

Court heard that Ahmo was taken to a hospital in Winnipeg, where he was intubated. He wastaken off life support a week later.

Members of Ahmo's family, who were in court Friday, broke down crying near the end of the last video. The Ahmo family'slawyer, as well as Morden's wife and several supporters, were also present.

'Very horrific'

Chief E.J. Fontaine ofSagkeeng First Nation, who also saw the video in court Friday,said the way the province's justice system treats Indigenous people needs to change.

"Many of our people feel the way William did that these types of racist attitudes and brutal treatment inflicted upon our people by people involved in [the] justice system needs to be challenged and stopped," he told CBC News outside the courthouse.

Fontaine said the video was "very horrific" and likened the situation to the murder ofGeorge Floyd, who died aftera Minneapolis police officer pressed his knees on his neck and back for more than nine minutes.

"Clearly he was struggling to breathe," Fontaine said, referring to the video of Ahmo. "They continue to press him."

Fontaine said he hopes Ahmo's family getsthe justice andclosure they need.

The judge-only trial, being presided over by Judge Tony Cellitti, began Friday in Manitoba provincial court and is expected to continue until Sept. 8, followed by another week at the end of September.