Three Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) officers and a supervisor, all facing criminal charges in connection to the death of 19-year-old Ashley Smith, have been fired.
Four other employees have also been suspended without pay for 60 days. All eight employees have been under suspension since Smith died on Oct. 19 at a Kitchener, Ont., prison.
Staff members allegedly saw the girl on a video monitoring system with a ligature around her neck. However, officials reportedly did not intervene immediately, believing she wasn't seriously harming herself.
Smith, who suffered from a mental illness, died from self-asphyxiation.
None of the fired employees wanted to talk after hearing the news at a meeting at a Kitchener hotel on Wednesday.
Jason Godin, Ontario regional president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, told CTV's Joel Bowey that there was a lot of anger and a "feeling of abandonment" following the firings.
Godin said the decision means the four employees have already been convicted even before their case has been heard in court.
"That's a major concern, obviously we'll be talking to our lawyers about that," he said. "Clearly this raises a number of issues for us... and again it's that feeling that the CSC has basically thrown these individuals to the curbside and they don't really care."
Smith had spent more than two years in segregation at the jail, after being transferred from various institutions across the country. In 2003, she received a six-year prison sentence.
While in prison she received further charges, connected to unspecified incidents involving staff members.
Travis McDonald, 36; Karen Eves, 52; Valentino Burnett, 47, and Blaine Phibbs, 31, have all been charged in connection to her death at Kitchener's Grand Valley Institution.
The charges fall under a section of the Criminal Code that relates to "omitting to do anything that it is his (or her) duty to do, shows wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons."
Another corrections officer is facing charges in connection with a separate incident with Smith at a Saskatoon prison.
Correctional supervisor John Tarala was fired from his position last September, accused of assaulting Smith.
With a report from CTV Kitchener's Joel Bowey
