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Emotional day of testimony at elevator
inquiry
Last updated Jan 13 2005 03:08 PM MST
Emotional testimony was delivered at the Kyle
Young fatality inquiry Thursday.
A former Edmonton courthouse guard took a deep
breath on the witness stand before he talked about the final few
moments of Kyle Young's life.
Last year, the 16-year-old died in custody when
he plunged five stories down an elevator shaft.
Former guard John Tomaino testified the Young
was making verbal threats and trying to spit at the guards, so
Tomaino decided to send Young to a basement holding cell via the
elevator.
Tomaino says he then heard a loud pop and heard
Young tumble down the elevator shaft and land with a loud crash.
The victim's mother dashed out of the courtroom
with tears rolling down her face.
Afterwards, Amanda Grift, Young's sister, spoke
to the media.
"I bet you it was pretty hard for him to say
that," she said. "He came up to us at lunch hour yesterday and shook
my mom's hand, and gave his condolences and said how sorry he was.
"And I thought that was pretty brave of him,
because I can only imagine how he'd feel to come up to us."
The inquiry also heard testimony that more than
two years before Kyle Young's death, there had been another incident
with the same elevator.
Tomaino says that at that time very little
force caused the door to be easily knocked off its track.
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