ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

She closes her eyes and pictures her youngest child, trying to set aside for a moment the questions that hang over his death.

For over a year, Fagan and her family have lived a nightmarish reality: Chadd is gone and they don’t know why. On April 26, 2021, the 19-year-old with a love of hip-hop and sneakers skipped a dentist appointment and went out. He returned home at dinner, obviously unwell: inside his friends’ car, Fagan found him confused, going in and out of consciousness, and with a bruise on his forehead — which Fagan, a registered practical nurse, and paramedics described as a “hematoma.�

Hours later, he was dead.

In an unusual case, Facey’s death is under investigation by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the watchdog that conducts criminal probes of serious incidents involving police officers. The agency took over the investigation from Peel Regional Police in August 2021, after a significant development in the probe: investigators learned that, according to police documents, Facey clashed with two men he’d met with that afternoon to sell an Apple watch, arranged on Kijiji.

Those men: off-duty ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Consts. Calvin Au and Gurmakh Benning.

“When I heard that police were involved, I was just numb,� Fagan said in an interview with the Star in her Brampton home, the first time she is speaking out about her son’s death.

“I was so confused.�

What exactly happened on the final day of Chadd Facey’s life is still a mystery. Crucially, so too is the question of whether he died of any injuries he may have sustained in the interaction with Au and Benning. Nevertheless, police disciplinary records, the Star’s interviews with Fagan and a summary of her son’s medical records from Brampton Civic Hospital — provided to the Star by the family’s legal counsel — offer the most complete account to date of Facey’s final hours.

Together, they paint a picture of a confrontation between Facey, Benning and Au over the watch — which the officers believed was counterfeit — then an alleged physical takedown of Facey by Au, followed by a medical emergency that led to Facey’s rapid decline and death in hospital.

As first reported by the Star, after the officers’ link to Facey’s final hours was discovered — allegedly, through cell phone records — ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police launched their own internal investigation. They allege that on the day Facey died, the officers pursued Facey by car then foot, then Au took him “to the groundâ€� where there was a “struggle.â€� The officers are accused of failing to document or report their actions to authorities for months.

The officers face multiple professional misconduct charges in a disciplinary process that’s on hold while the SIU investigation continues.

None of the allegations contained in the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police tribunal documents have been proven at a disciplinary tribunal. Gary Clewley, the lawyer representing Benning, declined to comment due to the ongoing SIU investigation.

Peter Brauti, the lawyer representing Au, said he is waiting for more information but stated that Facey appeared well at the time his client left.

“That’s the truth. At the time these guys leave, this guy is walking, talking,� Brauti said.

The SIU has been investigating for nearly a year. The agency has released little information about their probe, but confirmed to the Star that investigators have determined the medical cause of Facey’s death but not the “manner,� namely, if his death was caused by an accidental injury, a homicide, natural causes or something else.

For now, the SIU won’t release the cause of death, saying they need to protect the integrity of the investigation.

“The SIU’s investigation into this tragic case is ongoing,� a spokesperson said.

Facey’s family still does not know his cause of death. Neither they nor Asha James, the family’s lawyer, can access the coroner’s report due to the ongoing SIU investigation. That’s standard while a death is under investigation, James said, but it’s left the family with pressing questions.

“I need answers that I can’t get,� Fagan told the Star. “I don’t know how much longer I can wait.�

Based on the bruise on Facey’s forehead and the limited medical information they’ve received, the family’s understanding is that Facey experienced head trauma, James said, though his cause of death is unknown to them.

“It seems to be a factor in how Chadd, at a young age of 19, suddenly came to his death,� James said.

The youngest of four and the only son, Facey was a psychology student living at home. Fagan said her son grew from an artistic child who loved to draw into a caring, private young man. He was building a big persona as the hip-hop artist DPA Face, the name under which he’d started recording songs and making music videos. He was relaxed about his next steps as he approached his 20s.

“He said to me more than once: ‘I have my whole life ahead of me.’ He wasn’t in a rush,� she said.

According to the SIU, the incident began after Facey met the officers near Brampton’s Highway 50 and Bellchase Trail, not far from Facey’s home, to “conduct a business transaction.� The men met up between 2:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., the SIU said.

According to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police disciplinary documents, Facey arranged to sell Benning an Apple watch, and Benning brought Au along for the transaction. But after the money exchanged hands, Benning discovered the watch was, allegedly, counterfeit — prompting the off-duty cops to chase Facey down, first by car, then by foot, the documents say. It’s alleged Au then took Facey “to the ground,â€� where the men had a physical struggle and Facey attempted to escape Au’s grasp before the officers “ran to the car and drove away.â€�

Benning allegedly called 911 at one point to report a “‘Kijiji deal that had gone bad,’� but he did not identify himself as a police officer and “eventually advised the call taker that the matter was resolved,� according to documents.

The disciplinary documents do not describe whether Facey was injured. It’s unclear if he knew the men were police officers.

After 5 p.m. on April 26, 2021, Fagan had returned home from her shift at a long-term care home. Around the same time, Facey’s friends were parked outside the house and told Fagan he was unwell.

Inside the car, Facey was confused and going in and out of consciousness, Fagan said. It wasn’t clear to Fagan if her son had been injured but she noticed a “hematoma� — a bruise — on his head. (The SIU has said that after the interaction with the two officers, Facey’s friends picked him up and “noticed he appeared unwell,� prompting them to seek medical attention).

“I knew he wasn’t well, but I didn’t know what was going on with him,� Fagan said.

A summary of the medical records provided to the Star by the family lawyer provides details of what happened next.

Paramedics arrived at the family home at 5:13 p.m. and found Facey was lethargic and confused: “patient unable to recall name, event or place,� the notes say. Paramedics assessed Facey was a 14, or mild, on the “Glasgow Coma Scale,� used to assess a patient’s consciousness. The notes indicate a “small hematoma� at the centre of the forehead, while also indicating “no known injury.�

When the ambulance left for the hospital at 5:35 p.m. Fagan didn’t go with her son to the hospital because of COVID-19 restrictions. She said she was worried as she watched him leave, but didn’t think he was in a life-threatening situation.

At the Brampton Civic Hospital at 5:54 p.m., a note indicates Facey was assessed at triage for an acute kidney injury. (Facey’s family said that note hasn’t been clarified; subsequent notes make no explicit reference to kidney problems).

At triage, Facey was lethargic, drowsy and couldn’t answer questions.

Starting at 6:30 p.m., Facey underwent monitoring, some of it coming back normal. The records include a reference to a CT scan for the head. James, the lawyer, said it’s unclear whether that was done; the notes state: “no significant medical history.�

At 8:58 p.m., Facey had a seizure that eventually led to a “code blue,� which tells hospital staff an adult patient is experiencing impending or actual respiratory or cardiac arrest. Hospital staff struggled to intubate Facey and staff rotated through, performing CPR.

At some point in the late evening, Fagan said she got a call telling her to come right away to the hospital, and knew something had gone terribly wrong. By the time she arrived, he was dead.

“That’s the most painful thing,� Fagan said. “He died by himself.�

Taken as a whole, the records reveal an effort to diagnose and treat Facey’s rapid decline but do not state his cause of death.

The records also make no reference to the source of his hematoma; it is not clear whether paramedics or doctors knew about Facey’s earlier interaction with men later identified as Au and Benning.

The documents indicate the coroner was present by 12:51 a.m. on April 27, 2021.

According to the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police tribunal documents, Peel police received a call from Brampton Civic Hospital after Facey died, and police “commenced an investigation into his death to determine the circumstances.â€� That investigation included seizing Facey’s phone from the hospital, the documents say.

The Star asked William Osler Health System, which includes Brampton Civic Hospital, to explain why police were contacted about Facey’s death. A spokesperson said she could not provide any details, citing hospital policy and patient privacy concerns. In general, when a patient dies from “an unnatural cause or a natural death that occurs suddenly or unexpectedly,� hospital staff are required to notify the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service, a spokesperson said (they must notify police directly when a victim suffers a gunshot wound).

According to the summary of medical records, Facey’s body was taken by the coroner’s office.

A post-mortem was conducted two days later. His funeral was held on May 19, three weeks after his death.

For Fagan, the grief of losing her son was overwhelming, and not knowing what caused his death left her unable to eat, sleep or focus. She took a bereavement leave. When she returned to her job she struggled to concentrate.

The family anxiously awaited updates from Peel police.

“All I was thinking (was) I need to know what happened. I need to know. I need to know. And I wasn’t going to stop,� Fagan said.

It was late August when Peel police gave her the confounding news that two off-duty ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police officers had interacted with Facey the day he died. There were few details — “they were vague,â€� Fagan said — but it was enough to leave her stunned.

“Obviously, when that information comes to light, it’s shocking,� said James.

According to the allegations contained in the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police tribunal documents, after Peel police used cell phone records to link Benning to Facey, investigators spoke to Benning, who told Peel about Au’s involvement.

ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police then learned their officers’ involvement from Peel, according to the SIU. Within an hour, the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ force contacted the SIU, a ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police spokesperson said, launching the watchdog’s investigation.

The SIU does not typically investigate the conduct of off-duty police officers, but they will under certain circumstances, including when an officer exercises their police powers. According to the SIU website, the Facey case is being investigated as a custody death.

Asked why the connection between Facey and the officers wasn’t made for nearly four months, a Peel spokesperson declined to comment, citing the ongoing SIU probe. A spokesperson said last year that it wasn’t until mid-August 2021 that police received information that “revealed the identities of the other persons involved in the incident, and their employment as police constables, at which point the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Police Service was notified.â€�

For James, the case raises significant questions, including what the officers knew about his condition when they left the confrontation, and whether it was clear that he needed medical attention.

For Facey’s family, getting to the truth is most important now.

“And if there are people who have committed wrongdoing, to make sure that they’re held accountable,� James said.

Last October, Facey’s family members and friends packed into Fagan’s backyard to mark what would have been his 20th birthday. It was a celebration: the yard was decorated in blue and white balloons, Facey’s music played from the speakers and the smell of oxtail, rice and peas, his favourite meal, wafted from the kitchen. The family held a similar get-together in April, for the anniversary of his death.

The gatherings have kept Facey’s memory alive. But they haven’t eased the ache of his absence, most intense when Fagan arrives home from work and knows her son won’t be in his room, or at his usual chair in the kitchen. She’s kept old surveillance videos from the front door surveillance camera, footage that lets her watch him come and go, talking and laughing.

Fagan hopes every day she’ll get news on the case. Her grief over Chadd’s death will never go away, but she needs an end to the pain of not knowing what happened to him.

“I still can’t find no peace,� she said.