Saskatchewan woman found frozen to death was released from correctional center 3 days prior

By Kaniethonkie

A young mother of six was released from a Saskatchewan women’s prison on January 20th only to be found frozen in a residential area of Saskatoon. The death of Kimberly Squirrel, 34-years-old and member of the Yellow Quill First Nation could have been alive today if her family had been told she was being released from prison. The Yellow Quill First Nation is about 250 kilometers east of Saskatoon.

Kimberly’s sister Kara Squirrel told CBC, “She was like my best friend ... I should have been the first person to get notified because I was the person taking care of her.”

Kimberly had been released from the Pine Grove Correctional Centre, near Prince Albert, about 160 kilometers northeast of the city.

Kara went on to say she hoped her sister’s time in jail might have helped her find balance in her life – Kimberly suffered from depression, addiction to drugs, and grief – the death of her brother, mother, and recently, their father.

Despite Kimberly’s history of addiction and mental health issues and the fact that she had previously been living with Kara on the reserve, no one in the family was notified of her release. Kara said, “she would have picked Kimberly up and made sure she had a place to go and the support she needed”, she told CBC News in an interview.

Kimberly’s death is now being investigated by the Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service. The Squirrel family is waiting for autopsy results. According to CBC, the provincial Ministry of Corrections said it would not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons.

Kimberly’s death is not the first instance of controversy! Pine Grove is the only facility for women in the province. Aleida Oberholzer, a criminal defense lawyer with Pfefferle Law in Saskatoon told CBC that in many cases, women are taken to the facility and away from their communities and families without notice.

Oberholzer’s been advocating for changes in the system that would ensure women have more access to their cellphones to retrieve their contacts. She said she has heard numerous stories about women who have been forced to hitchhike once released from prison because buses from the facility only run twice a day and some women don’t want to wait.

For Kimberly’s sister Kara, she feels the government should be responsible for notifying a family member when someone who may be in a vulnerable situation is released from provincial care.

“They need to give more information out to the families ... About when they got picked up — they don’t have to say why they got picked up — but they need to know when they’re getting released and what type of programs they’re involved in when they’re in jail, so that way, they can continue those programs after.”

Asked if she felt her sister was in any mental state to be released without care, Kara Squirrel told CBC: “No. Not at all.”

CBC News requested an interview with Saskatchewan’s Corrections Minister Christine Tell, but a statement was provided instead, “Corrections works with sentenced offenders to provide them with a release plan to support their successful reintegration into their community,” the statement said. “That preparation may include assisting offenders in securing safe and supportive residency, accessing relevant programming, employment networking, and connecting with community supports.”

“Corrections works with sentenced offenders to provide them with a release plan to support their successful reintegration into their community,” the statement said. “That preparation may include assisting offenders in securing safe and supportive residency, accessing relevant programming, employment networking, and connecting with community supports.”

It’s not clear at this time if Kimberly was serving time at Pine Grove as a remanded or sentenced prisoner, but the ministry statement said it’s up to individuals “to decide what level of involvement their family may have in their release.”

The ministry also said while it is an offender’s responsibility to obtain transportation, they will offer assistance if all other options are exhausted, noting they had spent about $25,000 helping offenders return home as of Aug. 31 in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

It isn’t clear what exactly happened between the time Kimberly was released and when she died but Kara said when her sister was found, she was wearing thin clothes. She said it’s her understanding Kimberly looked like she “just laid down and fell asleep.” The family’s understanding is that Kimberly “froze to death.”

Oberholzer said most of her clients aren’t expecting to be arrested. She told CBC, “Most of my clients aren’t prepared for an arrest. So they don’t have phone numbers written down. They don’t have ways to notify their supports if they’ve been arrested, because you’re not prepared for it, and then you’re displaced.”

Many times a person’s cellphone and personal property is seized as part of their arrest and the court process, so even when a person is released, they may not have the ability to contact the family.

“You don’t have a cellphone. You don’t have your ID or anything like that. You’re sort of stripped of everything.”

“They’ll leave, and most of the time, you don’t blame them. They’re struggling from mental illness, and they’re not thinking straight, and they’ll hitchhike. It’s shocking how often I have clients that will hitchhike successfully.”

On Twitter, Oberholzer recently shared a story about one of her clients walking about 140 km from Pine Grove Correctional Centre to Saskatoon, a long journey that would take about 30 hours according to Google Maps. She said many women are forced to hitchhike or walk because they can’t connect with family, and that is putting people who are already at-risk in an even more dangerous situation.

Oberholzer advocates there are steps Saskatchewan could take to help ensure women who are getting out of jail have the support they need - pointed to the provincial government’s Community Alternatives to Remand program which offers mandatory residential, social, and mental health support for men who are getting out of jail.

Unfortunately, the program also exists for women but doesn’t have the same level of support.

Oberholzer said, “That program saves a lot of male lives, and I think that it could have saved Kimberly’s life as well.”

An inmate has to be ready and willing to take advantage of the supports in place and Kara and Oberholzer both agree it’s also important for inmates to be allowed to notify their family members that they are incarcerated. Oberholzer said this could be as simple as giving a person supervised access to their phone for just a few minutes.

Kara stressed that although her sister struggled with addiction, she’ll never forget the woman Kimberly was when she was clean, “She was my protector in school. She was my rock, and she was a very great person. If you knew her when she wasn’t on her stuff, you’d see that she was a great person. I loved being around her.”