Darrell Night, man who helped prompt Stonechild inquiry, dead at 56

Darrell Night, the man whose story helped prompt the inquiry into the freezing death of Neil Stonechild, has died at age 56.

On a freezing cold night in 2000, Night was picked up by Saskatoon police and dropped off on the outskirts of the city near the Queen Elizabeth Power Station.

The practice later became known as a “starlight tour,” and Night’s story ultimately led to the inquiry into the death of the 17-year-old Stonechild, who froze to death a decade earlier under the same circumstances.

The inquiry concluded in 2004, and while two police officers were fired as a result, neither was criminally charged.

According to The Canadian Press, Night died earlier this month and was buried April 17 at a cemetery on the Saulteaux First Nation, near North Battleford.

— With files from The Canadian Press