Taxi had dropped off teenager near her home
The coroner has ruled the death of a Whitehorse teen, found lying in the snow near her home, was accidental.
The coroner has ruled the death of a Whitehorse teen, found lying in the snow near her home, was accidental.
Tora-Lee Jessie Jane Williams was found unresponsive the morning of Nov.1, 2012, tragically only a couple doors down from her home in the Kopper King area.
In her report released late last week, coroner Kristen MacDonald says Williams died from hypothermia due to exposure.
Alcohol intoxication was a significant factor, though not a direct cause of death, the coroner said.
MacDonald describes the young girl as a hard worker.
She was looking forward to her 16th birthday and the prospect of applying for work.
She volunteered in her spare time and recently welcomed a new baby sister into the family.
The young girl was new to alcohol and only began experimenting in the months prior to her death, the report says.
She was last seen by her parents on Halloween.
She told them she was going trick or treating and to the movies. She was expected home at around 11 p.m.
The coroner's investigation found Williams went drinking downtown with her friends.
The group of six or seven teens between the ages of 15 and 18 went from a park at the end of Main Street to the Gold Rush Hotel and later took a taxi to Rotary Peace Park.
They arrived at the park at around 11 p.m., MacDonald reports. They shared a 26-oz. bottle of whiskey.
"The alcohol is believed to have been purchased at a local off-sales in Whitehorse, but not directly purchased by the young people,” the report says.
"It is unknown who purchased the alcohol from the off-sales, and provided it to the young people.”
While at the park, Williams began complaining of being cold.
The weather that night was -15 Celsius with snow.
The coroner describes Williams' stepfather driving around Whitehorse until 4 a.m.searching for her and her mother making phone calls looking for her daughter.
Williams was last seen by her friends at around 12:30 a.m. walking along the river trail in downtown Whitehorse.
The report says a taxi driver found her not long after lying on the ground near the Westmark Whitehorse Hotel, and drove her home.
The driver told investigators he waited for a moment after dropping her off and saw the young girl sit down.
"We may never know why, but Ms. Williams never entered her home after being dropped off by the taxi,” the report says.
When she was found on the morning of Nov. 1, her body temperature was 17.8 degrees Celsius.
As the body gets colder, it slowly begins to stop working. At 20 degrees, the heart stops, the coroner says.
Staff at Whitehorse General Hospital worked for hours to warm her body and save her life, but were unsuccessful.
"The combination of alcohol and cold weather can be deadly,” the coroner writes.
"A decrease in core temperature of only one degree Celsius can slow reaction times and impair judgment.
"The combination of alcohol and decreased body temperatures has a significant danger of death.
"Both hypothermia and the effects of alcohol can cause disorientation, loss of ability to make rational decisions, confusion, inability to walk, loss of consciousness, coma and death.”
Comments (11)
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flyingfur on Apr 5, 2013 at 6:21 am
Bobby: Very well said. It is too bad that people are confusing blame and prevention here.
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flyingfur on Apr 5, 2013 at 4:28 am
Max: I think all of us were refering to the second driver that was kind enough to pick her up and take her home and even waited for a moment as she approached her home. Nobody is hanging the driver but the fact is had there been another layer of care at that point or another option for the driver things might not have turned out the way they did. Frankly your remarks about people pointing out such options in the hope of avoiding a future situation such as this and suggesting these are merely reflections of our "inflated moral outrage" are insulting and I'd suggest you are missing the point. I do agree with your observation about the outcome of putting more responsibility on the drivers...I'd say put less if we can.
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bobby bitman on Apr 5, 2013 at 2:44 am
Years and years ago a friend of mine woke up in a jail cell. She pretended she was still asleep while her mind was racing, trying to figure out what she did because she had zero recollection of what happened and how she got there. She was afraid she had killed someone or something. When she 'woke up', the police told her that she was found face down in a flower bed in Rotary Park. Somebody called the cops, and they picked her up and put her in a cell for safety's sake until she came out of her stupor and could tell them who she was and where she belonged.
Booze baby-sitting is something the police avoid these days after having Ray S. die in a cell.
There are many, many situations that could have ended up like this one but for concerned citizens, taxi drivers and community support workers like the RCMP and ambulance drivers who intervene and save lives. Tora fell through the cracks and died, as other teens have before her. It is no one's fault. For all we know they got the booze from their parent's liquor cabinet. Ya, maybe someone over the age of 19 did buy their booze, and that is illegal, but that person did not cause her death. Everyone 'contributed' by not shepherding Tora to safety if you want to look at it that way, but I tend to see this as a teenage accident, based on the things that teenagers do. Maybe it is the fault of society for not taking booze more seriously in general.
Never has there been a situation like this based on marijuana consumption, at least not that I am aware of.
People assume that booze is somehow sort of safe because it is legal, widely used, and sold by the government. It is one of the most dangerous drugs out there and the image of it being a 'fun loving' friend is false. Advertising for booze should be similar to that of cigarettes so young people are aware of the dangers and the ugly outcomes.
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Max Mack on Apr 4, 2013 at 2:34 pm
There is nothing in this story to suggest that the first taxi driver, the one that drove them to Rotary Park, knew that these young people were drinking.
The taxi driver seems to be an easy target here.
Unfortunately, the lynch-'em high crowd miss the point that forcing taxi drivers to be responsible for under-age drinkers will simply result in more young people being left in the cold. Both young people and taxi drivers will quickly learn to avoid each other.
How does that solve anything? I mean, besides assuaging our inflated moral outrage?
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Takes a community on Apr 4, 2013 at 7:17 am
Point of Ken's note is of course the ultimate repsonsiblity falls on the young girl who chose to take the first drink, then continue to drink. Lets remember the brain of a 15 year old. What is their life experience, has she drank before. NO doubt all could have been avoided if she chose to not drink.
BUT- where did the booze come from, seemingly an adult of at least 19 years of age. Perhaps that person should think before doing this again.
How many adults saw her stumbling around town- what did they do, perhaps next time you see a young person stumbling around, maybe stop and ask some questions or minimally call the RCMP and report what you saw- might be your daughter, sister, niece next.
Taxi driver makes money as his job is done, he has driven a person from A to B. Perhaps the cab company could form a policy to ensure drunk person actually enter a home before departing- specifically when it is a young person and winter.
We have all been 15 and made less than well thought decisions. A parent can only do so much, but a community can not bootleg to underage people, cabbies could call for help or at least ensure the person is home and safe not just at the address.
What would you have wanted others/community to do if this was your family member.
RIP, very sad for the family either way. Their lives are changed forever from this tragedy.
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flyingfur on Apr 4, 2013 at 4:53 am
Jackie: I think you missed the point. I agree with you on the subject of personal responsibility, but remember this girl was 15 years old. Young people often make bad decisions and that is why we as adults look after them as best we can and do our best to protect them from their bad decisions. Perhaps it is not about blaming other people as much as it is about preventing these kinds of tragedies from happening in the future and so we look to the "what ifs" such as what if her friends had looked after her or what if the cabbie had taken her right to the door or to the police station or hospital? I don't blame anyone for this but I don't feel comfortable just accepting these tragedies and simply saying it was the teenagers fault and she suffered the consequences and that is it...that is "cold" as you put it.
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Jackie Ward on Apr 3, 2013 at 2:10 pm
According to the first comment, it's the cab drivers fault now? Give me a break and give your head a shake. No one forced the girl to drink that much. No one is to blame but her. That's not being cold, that's speaking facts. Something the majority of people are deathly afraid of in today's society. It's always someone else's fault right? Personal responsibility doesn't exist anymore. Oh you robbed and killed someone? I guess it was because your Grandparents went to a residential school. Oh you drove drink and killed a family? It was the liquor stores fault for selling you that booze. Don't worry, you won't be the aggressor. You will always be the victim and it's always, always, someone else's fault. Now, how stupid does the above sound? To many people it's not dumb at all, because that's the type of garbage they peddle to people. Stop blaming others. I'm sick and tired of it. Take responsibility for your own actions. Why do we need to even ask that? What a joke.
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Clayton Johns on Apr 3, 2013 at 8:12 am
Rest In Piece Tora!
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hmmm on Apr 3, 2013 at 5:07 am
Ken I could not agree more with your statement. There should be rules that if a cabbie picks up an under aged drinker they take them to the hospital or right to the door of their house and wait till someone answers!!!
As for the whole group being morally bankrupt I agree completely!! I'd not want them as friends.
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Arn Anderson on Apr 3, 2013 at 4:11 am
When this happens to a young person its everyone's responsibility but when it happens to an adult it lies in the realm of accidental. The only thing I and anyone can do is offer condolences, blaming cabbies, bootleggers and her friends does not work, might as well blame the company who made the poison too.
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Ken Putnam on Apr 2, 2013 at 8:23 am
This is a very sad and disgusting story. I can only go on the story written here but several things jump out. First a cabbie drives 6 or 7 teenagers to Rotary Park around 11:00 p.m. It would appear the teens had already been drinking at this point. But other than collect his fare he does nothing. Pretty normal stuff cabbies to be shuttling underage kids around town. Some of these cab drivers are a big part of the problem. The only onus on them is to collect a fare.
It is unknown who purchased the alcohol. Well that's not really true. It should read the kids did not want to rat out the person who bought the booze for them. This in spite of the fact their friend is dead. Then the friends last see Tora-Lee walking along the river trail, presumably alone. Great friends. But hey, when you're 1/2 cut no need to worry about your friend. Then a cabbie finds her and drives her home. He waits for a moment watches her sit down outside and then leaves. So the taxi driver, I guess, thinks she will be just fine and this after he found her lying on the ground downtown.
She then freezes to death. On legal grounds I guess the death was accidental. On morale and common sense grounds her friends, the bootlegger and the cabbies should hang their heads in shame. They all share the responsibility of this young girls death.
To the parents of Tora-Lee, I feel your pain, I know your pain. Stay strong for each other and your other children.
There should be an inquest.