Inquest hears Charlottetown woman found dead with daughter had troubled history

WARNING: This story deals with suicide. Help line information appears at the bottom.

A coroner's inquest looking intothe deaths of Danielle White and her nine-year-old daughterhas heard details of how the Charlottetown womanstruggled with mental illness for more than adecade, repeatedly coming to the attention of child protection officials.

White, 47, and her daughterOlivia Rodd died in July 2020 at a home in the Sherwood neighbourhood of Charlottetown.

Carbon monoxide poisoning was the cause of death, according to post-mortem records read aloud Monday afternoon as the first day of the inquest drew to a close.

Olivia's death has been ruled a homicide, and White's a suicide.

By the end of the day Monday, all the witnesses had been heard from, said presiding coronerDr. Craig Malone, who will instruct the six-member jury after they hear a closing presentation from Olivia's father, Danny Rodd.

The purpose of a coroner's inquestis not to determine guilt or innocence or assign blame. It is meant to review the circumstances surrounding the deaths, with a view to coming up with recommendations for preventing similar tragedies in the future.

Ex-partneraddresses inquest

Roddwas emotional while speaking about his ex's mental health issues as the inquest began on Monday morning.

He said White had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression andhad self-harmed in the past but had promised him she would never hurt their daughter.

The couple signed a separation agreement in 2012, two years after Olivia was born.

Rodd and White shared custody, but Olivia spent more time with her father than her mother, andRodd told the inquest that Olivia saidher mom slept all day when she was there.

Police detective did wellness check

Det. Darren MacDougall with Charlottetown Police Services also spoke Monday, telling the inquest he had gone to White's home in April 2020 after being contacted by border officials who said White had ordered a drug from Mexico that was "a drug one might be inclined to order if their intent was suicide."

The parcel was intercepted at a FedEx plant in Memphis, Tenn., and ultimately destroyed by the Department of Homeland Security, but MacDougall decidedto visit White for a wellness check given its contents.

At that time, White explained she had made a "knee-jerk" decision to order the drug six weeks before, and said she was now in a better frame of mind.

MacDougall told the inquest he didn't have grounds to act under the Mental Health Act at that time, and that Olivia wasn't present when he visited.

"I didn't see that the child was in danger, given the circumstances of the nature of my visit," he said.

Psychiatrist detailsmissed appointments

The police detective's testimony was followed by that of Dr. Heather Keizer, one of White's psychiatrists.

She said she first saw White after a hospital admission in 2013 and followed up "intermittently at my private practice."As well as the two mental health issues mentioned by Rodd, she said borderline personality disorder was one of her working diagnoses forWhite.

Shortly after the hospital admission, Keizersaid, she wrote a letter in favour of White having a more active role as a parent, havingdiagnosed her as being at a low to medium risk for suicide.

Keizer said she saw White every three to six months during the years leading up to the fatalities last July.

White missed two appointments the winter before her death, Keizer said, and when they eventually made contact on April 24 it was by phone due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keizer told the inquest that phone consultations were not as "robust" as in-person appointments when it came to mental health care.

She said shenever had any concern about White harming others, adding:"If someone tells me they have a suicide plan, I admit them to hospital I wish I had but I didn't April is a long way from July."

When the Crown asked if Keizer had ever been the the one to cancel appointments with White, she said that was possible, citing her load of other duties and responsibilities."She was among a group of patients I was seeing less."

Child protection official speaks

On Monday afternoon, the inquest heard from Kelly Peck,the head of Child Protection Services on Prince Edward Island.

Among other things, she said the shutdown of schools,child cares and community centresdue to COVID-19left a void in the information coming to them. With caregivers and teachers not interacting with children face-to-face, child protection workers had to rely more on reports passed on when police became involved with families.

"Police were one of the only other agencies that had eyes on children when everything else was closed down," she testified.

With regard to Danielle White, Child Protection Services had its first report on her parenting back in 2009.

Peck said White had a total of four children, including Olivia, withthree different fathers. Different parents being involved with protection complaints sometimes led to communication gaps;for example, the father of one child wasn't always aware of issues with that child's half-siblings.

The older children are now in their 20s.

There were complaints of neglect, of leaving the children without adequate supervision and then came the mental health crisis in 2013, when White was hospitalized for the first time while Child Protection Services was involved in her situation. At that time, Olivia returned to live with her father. Another hospitalization followed in 2016.

The coroner had allowed Rodd to ask questions of the witnesses throughout the day, and at this point in Peck's testimony he asked about the province's policies with regard to telling other parents when there's an intervention.

Peck replied that a few years ago, there was too much confidentiality in such cases, but that has shifted in the last fouror fiveyears when it comes to keeping parents with shared custody informed.

'Thousands of documents'

P.E.I.'s child and youth advocateMarvin Bernsteinhas already been reviewing the deaths, independently.

"We look at it from the standpoint of child rights," he said."The recommendations that come forward from an inquest may be broader.... We really have a singular focus in terms of the well-being, the rights, the interests of the children and youth."

Bernstein said his office will be closely watching the inquest.

"We will have one of our staff members monitoring the proceedings each day," he said. "We have been reviewing the hundreds, thousands of documents in relation to the child's death."

After the inquest, Bernsteinstill has the option to move into hisown full investigation of the matter.

Help line information:

Anyone needingemotional support, crisis intervention or help with problem solving in P.E.I. can contactThe Island Helplineat1-800-218-2885 or the Canada Suicide Prevention Service at 1-833-456-4566.

The Kids Help Phone is a national counselling service that is free to young people around the clock. It can be reachedby calling 1-800-668-6868or texting 686868 or 741741.

Canada Suicide Prevention Service

Toll-free 1-833-456-4566

Text: 45645

Chat: crisisservicescanada.ca

In French: Association qubcoise de prvention du suicide: 1-866-APPELLE (1-866-277-3553)

Kids Help Phone:

Phone: 1-800-668-6868

Text: TALK to 686868 (English) or TEXTO to 686868 (French)

Live Chat counselling at www.kidshelpphone.ca

Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention: Find a 24-hour crisis centre