Shawn Richards died at the age of 37 after ingesting toxic drugs in the room of a support housing building where he lived in 2017. The staff took three days to find his body.
Shawn’s mother, Cyndie Richards, was already pursued by the fact that her son’s lifeless body lay behind a closed door for so long.
But Richards says that learning almost the same happened to Diane Chandler seven years later “cooled it to the bone.”
She says that after Shawn’s death, a Rainincity manager promised that, as a result of the error, the well -being controls in the tenants in the installation would be carried out every eight to 12 hours, instead of every 24.
“I simply thought, my God, you haven’t done anything and promised me that you would,” he said.
The two children of Richards and Chandler say that the delay in finding the bodies of their loved ones reveals gaps in the BC support housing systems, and the dangers of using drugs behind closed doors in facilities aimed at helping those who fight with mental health and addiction.
“I didn’t make a great scene at that time; I took them in his word [that] A horrible mistake had been made … and then finding this indignity was made, “said Richards.
In a statement, BC Housing said: “We deeply saddens any loss of lives and extend our condolences to the family and friends of this individual. The safety of residents is always our highest priority.”
The statement said in 2017, BC Housing “strengthened the requirements in operational agreements so that suppliers verify the safety of residents when residents had not been seen for a prolonged period of time, which does not exceed 48 hours.”
Raincy Housing did not respond to a request for comments from CBC News.
Richards said that the testimonies of Chandler’s two children brought vivid memories of their own son who found themselves, exactly seven years earlier.
“Now they have to have anguish like me knowing that my son’s lifeless body lay there without someone coming to take his body, letting his family know,” he said.
“It’s unbearable.”
Chandler, who had long suffered depression and addiction, died on April 20 at the Foxglove Complex Housing Center in Surrey in 2024.
A CBC news investigation revealed that it took 11 days to meet, although the staff had signed the well -being controls saying that it was alive.
The emails among the BC housing staff revealed staff members who thought they had seen Chandler had mixed with another tenant. It was not until May 1 that the staff would find Chandler and the tenant who had confused with her, both dead in their rooms.
Shawn Richards had been living in Princess Rooms, a rain installation in Powell Street in the Vancouver downtown in Eastside, and visited his mother in his workplace weekly.
Richards described him as a fun and popular child who stood out in each sport he tested. He fell to addiction in his 20 years while fighting with his mental health.
The Raincy Housing website describes the princess rooms as a “transition housing program focused on providing a safe and support housing environment for people with long stories of homeless people.”
A copy of his Forensic report, which has been reviewed by CBC News, says he was last seen alive on April 28, 2017. He was found on May 1, and the coroner concluded that he probably died on April 29.
Richards said that shortly after his son’s death, he was told that an employee did not open the door to see Shawn before because he was worried about what he could find. She has little information about why the days passed by no one from Raincy reviewing Shawn.
Changes implemented before Chandler’s death
In response to CBC’s news about Chandler’s death, BC Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the province has implemented changes that allow support housing operators to enter the rooms of the tenants “as a way of confirming their health, well -being and security.”
These changes were implemented in January 2024, four months before Chandler’s death.
In all supporting homes in BC, the frequency of well -being verifications varies from the site to the site depending on the level of attention provided and the needs of people living on the site.
Kahlon said that while the incident that involved Chandler was “unacceptable,” support facilities in the province continue to save lives.
“If we do not have these sites, people sleep in parks and camps, and are in a very dangerous environment for them and for the public, so we are trying to meet people where they need support,” he said.
But Richards said he sometimes wonders if the street could have been a safer place for his son to use, instead of behind a closed door.
“My horror as a mother is that I fought so hard for him to enter this, and if Shawn had been on the street, he would probably be alive because there would be someone there that would have given Narcan.”
