Manitoba's police watchdog not recommending charges in suspect's hypothermia death

Manitoba's police watchdog is not recommending charges in connection with the death of a man by hypothermia after a December 2022 encounter with RCMP officers in Ste. Rose du Lac.

Although not named in the report released Tuesday by the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU), CBC News previously identified the man as Devin Ashley McKay, 29. 

On Dec. 30, 2022, RCMP officers in Ste. Rose du Lac — about 210 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, near Dauphin Lake — responded to a call about an alleged robbery in the rural municipality of Lakeshore. 

In a statement to CBC at the time, police said four people kicked in the door at a home, demanded items and fled in the victim's vehicle. Police allege another vehicle was then stolen at a municipal property. 

Four suspects — two male and two female — were found at the side of the road on Highway 481, south of Crane River, attempting to get the vehicle out of a ditch. Police say one of the men ran into the bush, while the other three suspects were arrested and charged. 

According to the IIU report, police did not go back to search for the fourth suspect because they were understaffed and believed he had been picked up and taken to a nearby home. 

On Jan. 4, 2023, the man's family submitted a missing person report. The next day, police found McKay's frozen body in the woods where he was last seen, the report says. 

An autopsy report confirmed hypothermia was the immediate cause of death. Toxicology reports show he was also impaired by alcohol and methamphetamine at the time of death, which would have affected his body's ability to regulate heat. 

After his son's death, Eli McKay, from O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, told CBC he was "angry" and "sad" the police didn't start searching right away. The day McKay went missing, winter temperatures reached -17.6 C, -24 with the wind chill. 

"I don't know why they didn't go into the bush and look for him," Eli McKay said at the time. "They could have found him."  

One witness officer told IIU investigators that he told the involved officers "not to worry," as he knew McKay and thought he would "come back home" to nearby O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation.

He told investigators the involved officers were "quite upset and mad with themselves" after McKay's body was found, but he said he reassured colleagues they made "the right decision."

Officers told IIU investigators they did not have the necessary resources to search for McKay on Dec. 30. Police said there were only two officers for three arrested suspects, making transportation back to the detachment challenging. They also told investigators there were no aerial drones or search dogs available. 

The IIU investigation included information from two involved officers, six witness officers and four civilian witnesses.

Crown prosecutors told the watchdog they are "not satisfied there is a reasonable likelihood of conviction and the standard for prosecuting charges has not been met," the IIU report says. 

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