The prison suicide of Ashley Smith brings corrections deficiencies to light
Ashley Smith was a troubled teen from Moncton, N.B. who had been assessed by child psychologists several times in her youth, and was in constant trouble with the law. She was eventually placed in Ontario’s Grand Valley Institution for Women, a federal prison, when she was 18.
In the twelve months that she was incarcerated, Ashley attempted suicide several times before finally succeeding on Oct. 19, 2007 when seven prison guards watched as she choked herself to death—because they had been instructed not to intervene.*
We speak with Kim Pate, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, about the death of Ashley Smith and what the tragedy has revealed.
