None of the guards or police officers who were supposed to care for Raymond Silverfox in the 13 hours before he died in police custody will face criminal charges, an RCMP investigator from B.C. said Wednesday.

The 43-year-old Carmacks man died on Dec. 2, 2008 of blood poisoning and acute pneumonia after spending 13 hours in the Whitehorse RCMP detachment.

His treatment at the hands of civilian guards and officers has prompted a territory-wide policing review. It has also prompted disciplinary measures against those involved and a public apology from the Yukon's commanding officer, but no charges.

The announcement came as no surprise to Silverfox's daughter, Deanna-Lee Charlie. She is suing the nine officers and three guards working in the Whitehorse RCMP cell block the day Silverfox died, and applying for a judicial review of the coroner's inquest into the death.

"What can I say?” Charlie's lawyer, Susan Roothman, said in response to the announcement.

"One hopes until the end, but it's really not a surprise because I don't expect them to pursue prosecution of their own.

"My clients are very upset; this is trauma all over again.”

Insp. Brendan Fitzpatrick spoke with Roothman Wednesday morning, but told her no more than what he said to reporters in a prepared statement later that afternoon.

"After an extensive investigation in the circumstances surrounding the death of Raymond Benjamin Silverfox by the British Columbia ... major crimes section and an independent legal assessment of the investigative findings by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, it has been determined that no

criminal charges should be laid.”

Fitzpatrick noted the investigation was reopened after audio recordings taken in the cell block came to light just days before the coroner's inquest was scheduled to begin.

Those tapes revealed what the Yukon's top Mountie, Chief Supt. Peter Clark, described as "shocking” treatment of Silverfox at the hands of RCMP officers.

In spite of the fact Silverfox vomited almost continually during his 13-hour stay in cells, he was never given any medical assistance or moved to a clean cell.

The one interaction the Carmacks man had with an officer was to ask for a mat to lay on – he was in a bare room with only a toilet and a sink – to which the officer responded: "You can sleep in your own s---.”

An hour and a half later, the watch commander pointed out that Silverfox was not moving. When officers checked his vital signs, they found no heartbeat.

He was pronounced dead at Whitehorse General Hospital.

During his press conference Wednesday, Fitzpatrick did not mention the fact Silverfox didn't receive any medical attention up to that point, but repeatedly mentioned the fact that officers performed CPR on the man while waiting for the ambulance.

Said Roothman:”If I lock someone up in my basement and that person is vomiting and that person is violently ill and I do not help them and they die, then I would be charged.”

She believes the officers are criminally responsible for not providing the necessities of life and for negligence causing death, both charges under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Asked why the officers' action, or inaction, did not meet the threshold of criminal negligence, Fitzpatrick said he could not discuss details of the case because he did not want to jeopardize the civil cases launched by Charlie.

"If there is no criminal negligence in what happened there, then I don't know what would be seen as criminal negligence by the RCMP in its own ranks,” Roothman said.