By Canadian Press

Inquest told interactions with caretaker in B.C. woman’s death challenging at times

Jan 16, 2025 | 12:11 PM

BURNABY, B.C. — A former co-ordinator at the homecare organization overseeing Florence Girard’s care says interactions with the woman’s caretaker grew more challenging before Girard’s starvation death in 2018.

Krista Maniezzo, who was the Kinsight Community Society shared-living co-ordinator, told a coroner’s inquest into Girard’s death that while there was “nothing outrageous,” caretaker Astrid Dahl was also increasingly resistant to new care requirements introduced a few years before the woman died.

Maniezzo told the inquest that about a year before Girard’s death, Dahl had trouble keeping appointments with Kinsight, which was under contract from the provincial Crown corporation Community Living BC.

Girard, who had Down syndrome, weighed about 50 pounds when she died while living with Dahl.

Dahl was convicted in 2022 of failing to provide the necessaries of life for Girard.

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She told the inquest earlier this week that Kinsight didn’t provide adequate support for home-sharing care providers, including not paying for prescribed pain medication for Girard.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2025.

The Canadian Press