A drug squad investigator mentioned it was “surprising” to learn the way 18-year-old College of Victoria pupil Sidney McIntyre-Starko got here to own after which ingest the poisonous medication that killed her.
Saanich Police Division Const. Ben Scoones made the remark whereas testifying on the seventh day of the B.C. Coroners Service inquest into the January 2024 dying of McIntyre-Starko.
Scoones was tasked with investigating potential drug trafficking on the UVic campus just a few days after the first-year pupil died of a deadly fentanyl overdose in a UVic pupil dorm.
“It is such a surprising story that any person discovered medication after which determined to make use of these medication as a gaggle with out figuring out what these medication have been or the place they got here from,” he advised the coroner’s courtroom jury.
In testimony final week, a feminine UVic pupil recognized solely as “Pupil 1” advised the inquest that she discovered a field of unopened wine coolers on a downtown Victoria avenue after a dance class. Pupil 1 mentioned she took the wine coolers again to campus on the bus earlier than handing the field over to a few associates.
The three associates — McIntyre-Starko, “Pupil 2” and “Pupil 3” — discovered a vial of powdery substance within the backside of the field, in keeping with testimony, and decided to snort the substance in a dorm lavatory the next night. Names of the scholars are protected by a publication ban.
“All three of the witnesses supplied the identical data and supplied the identical story [and] there’s nothing to contradict that story,” mentioned Scoones.
Medicine packaged in glass vial uncommon, investigator says
In his years investigating low-to-mid degree drug dealing within the Victoria space, Scoones mentioned seeing medication packaged in a glass vial as an alternative of a small plastic bag or tin foil is uncommon.
“That’s fairly distinctive,” he mentioned. “It is one thing you’ll see in a film, like a Scarface film, the place you’ve folks utilizing medication out of small cocaine vials. But it surely’s not one thing we usually see in Victoria.”
Scoones mentioned it additionally wasn’t typical for medication to be left unattended on the road.
He testified that he went to the Johnson Avenue location the place Pupil 1 mentioned she discovered the wine coolers to attempt to accumulate safety or CCTV footage, however none was obtainable. There was additionally no safety video of the general public smoke pit on the UVic campus the place Pupil 1 testified she handed over the field of wine coolers to the others, he mentioned.
Pupil 2 and Pupil 3 additionally overdosed after snorting the medication, however solely Starko-McIntrye died.
The coroner’s inquest was referred to as after her mother and father raised considerations concerning the response of UVic campus safety and the size of time it took for fentanyl-reversing Narcan and lifesaving CPR to be administered to their daughter.
Forensic toxicologist Dr. Aaron Shapiro testified that people who snort the identical medication can expertise vastly completely different results relying on issues just like the granularity of the powder, how effectively the drug is blended with slicing brokers and the way deeply it’s inhaled into the nasal passages and lungs.
Regardless of the preliminary check of the medication indicating it was a mix of cocaine and fentanyl, the official toxicology report discovered no hint of cocaine in McIntyre-Starko’s system. The extent of fentanyl detected, he mentioned, was a doubtlessly deadly focus.
Shapiro, the affiliate scientific director of toxicology on the B.C. Centre for Illness Management, mentioned that the sooner Narcan is given to somebody who’s overdosing, the higher the prospect of survival.
The inquest is scheduled to run into subsequent week.
When you or somebody you realize is combating substance abuse, here is the place to search for assist:
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