'Why did it have to be me?': Mother recounts finding Haven Dubois as coroner's inquest begins in Regina

A coroner's inquest into the death of Haven Dubois is underway at the Royal Hotel in Regina.

Dubois was 14 when he was found unresponsive in Pilot Butte Creek, in the east end of Regina, on May 20, 2015.

A coroner's report prepared at the end of 2015 found Haven's death to be an accidental drowning and listed marijuana use as a contributing factor. Regina police ruled out foul play in their investigation.

Since Haven's death, his mother Richelle Dubois, who began testifying today, has insisted there is more to the story.

She spent more than a decade advocating for further investigation into his death, and took part in the Justice for Our Stolen Children camp outside the Saskatchewan Legislature in 2018.

In 2023, the family marched to Ottawa to call for a national inquiry into missing, murdered and neglected Indigenous boys, men and two-spirited people.

On Monday morning, more than nine years after Haven's death, the inquest, presided over by Coroner Brent Gough, got underway.

Searching for answers

Richelle was the first witness to testify on Monday, recounting how Haven was in Grade 9 at the time of his death.

Haven began the year enrolled at Sheldon Williams School, but Richelle said she removed him over concerns that he was being pressured to take part in gang activity.

Haven then attended classes at Harvest City Christian Academy before eventually enrolling at F.W. Johnson High School, because it was only a few blocks away from where the family lived.

Richelle Dubois, mother of Haven Dubois, has spent years pushing for further investigation into what happened to her son in 2015. (Laura Sciarpelletti/CBC)

Richelle testified how on the day of Haven's death, she was preparing to leave for work. That's when Haven approached her asking if he could stay home from school.

Richelle said she believed Haven was upset about not being able to spend time with her after she came back from a trip the night before.

Since she had to work, Richelle directed Haven to go to school. She did not ask why he did not want to go to school.

Her work day was interrupted by a phone call at approximately 10 a.m.

That's when she was informed by a family member that Haven's shoes, sweater and hat had been found near a bench on a pathway near their home.

Richelle said she was immediately concerned about Haven's well-being and left her work, heading toward the high school.

Missing person search

She said she contacted the school multiple times on the drive over, but school officials insisted that Haven was on a field trip at a career day in Emerald Park, a community east of Regina.

It was only after Richelle arrived at F.W. Johnson High School that she was informed that Haven was not with the class on the field trip.

That started a missing person search. Police eventually told Richelle to wait for Haven at home.

Richelle would eventually make her way down a nearby path, travelling toward the bench where Haven's clothes were found.

Near the bench she spotted Haven's body partially submerged in the creek.

Richelle tried to perform CPR and the inquiry was told an individual walking nearby also helped.

Eventually members of Richelle's family arrived at the scene followed by police and Emergency Medical Services.

Haven was taken to hospital where he would later be declared dead.

"Why did it have to be me? I ask myself that every day," Richelle told the inquiry through tears.

"I was there when he was born and I was there to find him."

Frustration with investigation

The rest of Richelle's testimony focused on her frustration with the Regina Police Service and what she saw as the lack of action taken to investigate Haven's death.

She told the inquest how before she arrived back at her home, she saw how media were already reporting Haven's death as an accidental drowning.

Richelle took the investigation into her own hands, talking with businesses near the scene of Haven's death and relaying that information to police. She even relayed rumours and allegations she had been told.

At each turn she felt like police were not taking her concerns seriously.

"It felt like running into a wall,"  Richelle said.

Richelle raised concerns she had with the coroner's report prepared at the end of 2015. It listed marijuana as a contributing factor in Haven's accidental drowning death.

Richelle recounted how she was able to eventually get a meeting with the coroner and the Regina police in January 2016.

She said they asked her to step out and approximately 30 minutes later she was brought back in to be told that the coroner's report had removed its reference to marijuana being a contributing factor.

Richelle never felt satisfied with the answers she was given and that's why her family campaigned for the inquest.

Rheana Worme and Mark Ebert, counsel for the family of Haven Dubois, pose for a photo outside the Royal Hotel in Regina on Monday. The coroner's inquest into the death of Haven Dubois is now underway. (Alexander Quon/CBC)

The lawyers representing Richelle, Mark Ebert and Rheana Worme told media after their client's testimony had concluded that Richelle was exhausted.

"She has been working tirelessly for the last nine years to get to this point and I don't think that her work is done yet. Typically these processes are not very satisfactory," said Worme.

"The the purview of the jury is very limited but there are important questions that need to be answered."

Six people — four men and two women — were chosen to sit on the inquest jury, including three who are Indigenous.

Over the next four days they will hear from 13 witnesses before determining who died, when and where that person died and the medical cause and manner of death.

They could also provide recommendations so that similar deaths do not occur in the future.

The inquest is set to resume at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.