A Brantford family has launched a lawsuit following the death of a family member who was beaten to death while staying in psychiatric care in Hamilton.
In May 2012, Michael Brewer was 30 years old and staying at St. Joseph’s West Fifth Campus following multiple run-ins with the justice system.
He had been at the hospital for more than three years, and documents show staff thought he was making psychiatric progress, when he was attacked on a soccer field behind the facility by another patient and beaten to death.
“When they told me, I was devastated. My brother and I were very close,” says sister Lisa Brewer.
“He was getting better, improving more and more all the time.”
Named in the Brewers’ lawsuit is St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, as well as the hospital president, a staff member and Tyler Valcheff, the man charged in his death.
The family says the hospital should have provided more protection for Brewer based on past issues between him and Valcheff.
“It became clear to me, from what I’ve read, that he was having a problem with another patient,” says father Roger Brewer.
Among the claims in the lawsuit – none of which have been proven in court – are concerns over overcrowding, understaffing, inadequate security and insufficient video surveillance.
“We don’t want this to happen to someone else,” says Lisa.
Hospital CEO Kevin Smith calls the incident a tragedy, but says nothing could have been done to prevent it.
“Unfortunately it was not predictable,” he says.
“While we wish we could always predict the behaviour of all patients, that’s not possible.”
