One day after learning that Nicous D'Andre Spring was illegally detained in jail when he sustained fatal injuries, around 100 loved ones held a candlelight vigil to remember the 21-year-old Montreal musician.
Friends and family gathered Friday evening in Montreal's Benny Park in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood where Brandon Ragain would often hang out with D'Andre Spring.
"The system failed us," said Ragain, who described what happened to his friend of 14 years as "an injustice."
"To know that on Christmas Eve, when he should have come out to spend time with his mother, and nephews, and nieces, he was beaten down, pepper sprayed and his life got snuffed out on Christmas Day. Of course, it's hard," he said.
"This is someone I grew up with. It's hard for me, but his mother's over there crying her eyes out and that's something that's never going to change.
She's always going to feel this hurt for the rest of her life."
Quebec's Ministry of Public Safety confirmed Thursday that D'Andre Spring should have been released on bail on Dec. 23, but for reasons that are still unclear, he was held illegally in Montreal's Bordeaux jail.
On Dec. 24, he was seriously injured during an intervention by a correctional officer and succumbed to injuries in hospital the following day.
Marie-Josée Montminy, a spokesperson for the ministry, said on Wednesday in a statement to CTV News that a correctional officer has been suspended in relation to the young man's death.
His immediate family did not want to speak to reporters at the solemn gathering on Friday.
On the sidelines of the vigil, Ragain remembered his longtime friend as a "young, aspiring musician" with so much potential ahead of him, and as someone who was always smiling and soft-spoken. D'Andre Spring was a Montreal rapper under the name "YK Lyrical" who shared his music on YouTube over the past three years.
"He had a musician's dream and it's a shame that he couldn't realize that now," the childhood friend told reporters.
As music played at the park as a tribute to the aspiring rapper, people held candles in the air and cried out, some with tears streaming down their faces.
Loved ones held signs with messages such as "We love you, Nicous" and "(Notre-Dame-de-Grâce) NDG loves you."
According to Ragain, the treatment of his friend was another example of "deep-rooted" systemic racism that affects not only Black people but other marginalized groups as well.
On Dec. 24, D'Andre Spring was involved in an altercation with other detainees and while correctional officers moved him to another location, D'Andre Spring tried to bite and spit on the guards, according to the head of the union representing Quebec correctional officers.
Mathieu Lavoie, president of the Syndicat des agents de la paix en services correctionnels du Québec, told Noovo Info that a correctional officer put a "spit mask" on him. A supervisor ordered agents to pepper spray him while he was still wearing the mask.
The ministry said he lost consciousness from the procedure and was sent in an ambulance to hospital, where later died.
LAWYER SAYS HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN RELEASED
A Montreal lawyer is also raising questions about the corrections system after learning what happened to the young man in the Montreal detention centre.
Eric Sutton, a Montreal criminal defence lawyer who was not involved in the D'Andre Spring matter, said there are rare circumstances in which a detainee would not be released on bail right away. For example, there might be other charges for which the accused was not granted bail or there might be a warrant for an arrest in another jurisdiction that has to be executed.
"Barring those circumstances that can arise, someone who was granted bail should be very promptly released once bail is posted. It should just be a matter of completing the paperwork. It should be very straightforward. These are standard forms. They just tick boxes. The person signs and the person is out," Sutton said in an interview Friday.
"It's not a complicated process, but in this case, why was there a delay? Why was the prison not informed? Or was the prison informed, but the staff weren't? I don't know. The question that I ask myself … was this altercation with the guards caused by this young man insisting that he should be free, he should be released?
What a tragedy. What a tragedy."
MULTIPLE INVESTIGATIONS UNDERWAY
Details of the case have been trickling out over the past few days, but there are still many unanswered questions. The Ministry of Public Safety — which is responsible for provincial detention centres — and Quebec provincial police have said very little about what, exactly, happened inside the jail in the days preceding the Montreal man's death.
The Sûreté du Québec is investigating the man's death, which is also being probed by the coroner's office.
Sutton wondered whether or not a lack of resources at the jail contributed to the events that led to D'Andre Spring's death.
"When someone’s liberty is at stake, our Charter of Rights places liberty very high … and court resources, or prison resources, should never be an excuse for keeping someone when they are entitled to be free," he said, adding that that would be "an unacceptable explanation."
The Ministry of Public Safety has ordered an internal audit of the Dec. 24 incident, "including the illegal detention component," said the spokesperson in a statement to CTV on Thursday. The recommendations from the audit "will be carefully analyzed by the MSP and corrective measures may be taken, if necessary."
D'Andre Spring was in the Bordeaux jail following a Dec. 20 arrest. He had pleaded not guilty to assaulting a peace officer, criminal harassment and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose. He was also facing two counts of failing to comply with a condition of release.
He was also charged several times in 2021 with failing to comply with a condition of release, as well as on one count of assaulting a police officer. In 2020, he was charged with robbery, assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.
An online fundraiser has also been created to support the man's family as they seek answers to what happened inside the jail.
"Nicous leaves behind his mother, aunt, sisters, niece, nephews and many beloved extended family and friends. All donations will be used to support our family, prepare for his send away and alleviate financial stress that we are currently facing," reads a description of the fundraiser.
In the days after his death, there was an outpouring of support on social media for the young Montrealer, who has been described by a friend on Facebook as "an incredibly happy person with a smile so contagious."
Stephen Hennessy, a coordinator at Westhaven-Elmhurst Community Association, also wrote on Facebook that D'Andre Spring was "always respectful" and "helpful to lend a hand around the center."
With files from CTV News Montreal's Matt Gilmour and Caroline Van Vlaardingen, and The Canadian Press
