Ex-girlfriend of Daniel Clause, killed by police in 2014, tells inquest he was 'petrified' of jail
On the first day of the inquest looking into the shooting death of Daniel Clause, his sister and friends painted a picture of a man who had a lifetime of ups and downs before he was killed by police on New Year's Eve 2014.
Clause's younger sister Mary told the inquest by age seven, he was protecting her and her sister Jennifer from the beatings administered by their mother and her boyfriends, and stealing for them when they had nothing to eat.
Their mother would kick Clause out of the house or call the Children's Aid Society when the two didn't get along, telling him, "You're dead to me", Mary Clause told the inquest..
She told the inquest she never knew him to own a gun.
"He was all thug rapper but I could see through it," said his sister.
Suspect matched Clause's description
In the early hours of December 31, 2014, a man armed with a gun robbed the Warden Station TTC booth.
Police fanned out looking for a suspect.
Two officers drove to 682 Warden Ave., the apartment building where Clause lived.
They confronted a man in the parking lot who matched the description of the suspect.
They officers said the man pulled out what looked like a gun.
One of the officers shot him three times. Two bullets entered Clause's abdomen and a third hit his shoulder before travelling through his heart.
The 33-year-old father of four died in the ambulance on the way to hospital. The weapon he was carrying was a pellet gun.
Clause's former girlfriend Linda Keyland told the inquest she couldn't believe that he was armed with any weapon when he was shot.
She described him as "petrified" of the word "jail."
Clause had been in trouble with the law and was charged with sexual assault in 2013, a charge which Keyland says Clause strenuously denied.
"He would rather die than go back to jail."
Family looks for answers at inquest
The coroner's jury of two women and three men will classify Clause's death.
It will not assign blame and will not consider whether it was Clause who carried out the robbery at Warden Station.
The inquest is expected to take eight days and hear from at least a dozen witnesses.
"I'm really curious as to the duration of time that they had an interaction, Mary Clause said outside of court.
What was said to him? And what did he say back?" she said. "Because it's something that they never provided to us so we have no idea what state of mind he could have been in in response to the orders he was given."
The Special Investigations Unit cleared the officer who killed Clause of wrongdoing.
His partner is expected to testify Thursday.
