ManitobaThe mother of an inmate who died in Stony Mountain Institution two years ago has filed a lawsuit alleging corrections officials’ negligence led to her son’s death.Ricardo Pereira, 23, died on Sept. 5, 2023, after drinking bottle of methadone following cancelled visit: suitCBC News · Posted: Sep 13, 2025 3:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours agoRicardo Pereira, 23, died on Sept. 5, 2023, while in custody at the Stony Mountain Institution, north of Winnipeg. (Justin Fraser/CBC)The mother of an inmate who died in Stony Mountain Institution two years ago has filed a lawsuit alleging corrections officials’ negligence led to her son’s death.Ricardo Pereira, 23, died on Sept. 5, 2023, at the federal prison north of Winnipeg while serving an eight-year sentence for breaking and entering, aggravated assault and other convictions. His family never received a full autopsy report, according to a statement of claim filed by Pereira’s mother, Dawna La Rose, with Manitoba Court of King’s Bench last week. “But for the defendant’s actions, Ricardo would not have died,” according to the lawsuit, which names the Correctional Service of Canada and the federal attorney general as defendants.The legal filing says Pereira was moved from Stony Mountain to the Edmonton Institution in Alberta, also overseen by Corrections Canada, in the weeks following a deadly riot at the Manitoba prison in July 2023. There, Pereira spent time in a structured intervention unit — used to isolate inmates from the mainstream inmate population — due to concerns for his safety due to his past involvement with the Manitoba Warriors gang, according to the lawsuit.He was sent back to Stony Mountain ahead of an Aug. 29, 2023, court date in Winnipeg. During a phone call with his aunt Jodie, whom he spoke to regularly, Pereira said he was not provided any food or water over the 14-hour drive from Alberta back to Manitoba.It’s unclear what day he arrived back at Stony Mountain, the statement of claim says.Drank bottle of methadoneOn Sept. 4, 2023, the day before Pereira died, La Rose arrived at Stony Mountain for a scheduled 1:30 p.m. visit with Pereira. When she arrived, she was told all visits were being cancelled due to an “incident” about 15 minutes prior.When she asked a Corrections officer if her son was OK, she was told the incident happened in his unit, but was given no other information, according to the lawsuit.Around 9 p.m., Pereira spoke to his aunt Jodie and father on a group phone call, telling them what had happened earlier that day.He told them Corrections officers were “giving him a hard time,” and had told him that morning the visit with his mother would be cancelled, according to the lawsuit.That was upsetting to Pereira, who, according to the court documents, had a history of “behavioural and social/emotional concerns,” including depression, anxiety and low mood.After being told his visit with his mother was being cancelled, he decided to get high, the court document says. He drank a “small but entire bottle of methadone” late that morning, he said, telling his aunt in the phone call he had never tried it before.That led to an overdose, and he was sent to the emergency room in Stonewall, where he was given several doses of the overdose treatment naloxone around 1:20 p.m.He was discharged from the hospital around 7 p.m. and taken back to Stony Mountain, according to the lawsuit.His aunt said Pereira “did not seem himself” during the phone call, which ended around 10 p.m.About an hour later, another inmate said he called guards, after noticing some food had been left on the slot of Pereira’s cell. The other inmate said Corrections officers went into the cell, and were in it for about three hours, according to the lawsuit.The inmate said the next morning, he saw that Pereira’s cell was empty except for a pool of blood.On Sept. 5, Winnipeg police informed La Rose that her son had died around 2 a.m. that day.According to her claim, though the family has received no autopsy or coroner’s report indicating the cause of death, a senior medical examiner verbally told La Rose that Pereira’s death was caused by methadone toxicity.Breach of duty: lawsuitThe lawsuit alleges the defendants failed in their duty to care for Pereira’s safety, health, and well-being, and to provide him with the necessities of life.That includes a failure to obtain relevant information about Pereira, who had roots in Lake Manitoba First Nation and Birdtail Sioux First Nation, “including his personal, social, economic, criminal and young-offender history.”It also accuses them of “failure to observe grounds for belief that… [his] confinement was having a detrimental impact on his health.”After a deadly July 2023 riot at Stony Mountain Institution, north of Winnipeg, Pereira was moved from Stony Mountain to Edmonton Institution in Alberta. During the 14-hour drive back to Manitoba, he was not given any food or water, according to the lawsuit. (CBC)The claim also alleges Corrections officials breached Pereira’s Charter rights by not providing him with food and water during the 14-hour drive from Alberta to Manitoba.La Rose, who is the administrator of Pereira’s estate, is claiming damages on behalf of herself and Pereira’s sister under the The Fatal Accidents Act. A total figure for the damages sought was not specified. In a statement emailed to CBC News, the Correctional Service of Canada said it “takes the death of an inmate very seriously,” but said officials can’t provide any further details as the issue is before the courts.
Mother of inmate who died at Stony Mountain prison suing for negligence
