While a coroner’s report will not bring her daughter back, a grieving mother hopes her death will lead to meaningful change.
Wynter Shirley Horrell, 20, became acutely short of breath after injecting diluted encapsulated tramadol at her South Dunedin home, early on Thursday, December 2, 2021.
Her partner, Taylor Stewart, called emergency services, but Horrell was unresponsive when paramedics arrived and could not be resuscitated.
Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale, in findings released this month, criticised the initial police investigation, noting that officers prematurely assumed the death was natural due to Horrell’s visible medical equipment.
Furthermore, police failed to protect the scene, did not look inside a visible sharps container, allowed family members to tidy the flat, and did not examine digital devices.
