B.C. coroner reopens investigation of Indigenous woman’s death

By Canadian Press on May 6, 2025.

British Columbia’s chief coroner says he is reopening the investigation into the death of an Indigenous woman the day after her family went public with concerns about how her case was handled.

Dr. Jatinder Baidwan says he’s directing a coroner’s inquest to publicly review the circumstances that led to the death of Tatyanna Harrison, whose body was found on a dry-docked yacht in Richmond, B.C., in 2022.

Baidwan says he has an obligation as chief coroner to ensure public confidence in the Coroners’ Service and its processes.

On Monday, Harrison’s mother Natasha Harrison appeared alongside family members of Chelsea Poorman and 13-year-old Noelle O’Soup, who also died in 2022, and called for an inquest into all three deaths.

An advocacy group working with the families said Monday that a review by an independent forensic pathologist found Harrison’s cause of death should have been ruled as “undetermined” rather than the official finding of sepsis after an autopsy by the coroner.

Baidwan says investigations into the deaths of Poorman and O’Soup remain open and decisions about whether to hold inquests in those cases will be made in future.

“An inquest will provide an opportunity for a broad, open and transparent review of the circumstances related to Tatyanna’s death, and my hope is that the jury will be able to make meaningful recommendations that will prevent similar deaths from occurring in the future,” Baidwan says in the statement.

He said information about the date and location of the inquest would be provided in coming weeks.

Harrison was a 20-year-old Cree, Métis and Brazilian woman who was reported missing on May 3, 2022.

Her remains were found in Richmond the day before she was reported missing but it took three months for her mother to be informed.

A representative for the group Justice for Girls said Monday that no rape kit had been done during her autopsy, despite the fact that Tatyanna was found partially naked on the yacht with no explanation of how she got there, who she was with, or why she was there.

Investigators initially said her death was likely due to an overdose, before a coroner later concluded she died of sepsis.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2025.

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press