'It's time for a change': Mother of homicide victim says health system failed her daughter

Cathleen Balon says she was going to take her daughter Nykera Brown to a detox centre in Moose Jaw on Tuesday November 15 to help her with mental health and addictions issues.

Instead, Saskatoon Police found Brown dead in an apartment building on Avenue P that night.

“My daughter was leaving her abusive boyfriend,” Balon said.

Andrew Rosenfeldt, 25, was charged with second-degree murder and will make his next court appearance on November 24.

Balon says her daughter had a history of struggles with mental health and addiction, and is placing blame on Saskatchewan’s healthcare system for allowing her to fall through the cracks.

“I'm devastated. I wish somebody would’ve listened to me. If anybody would’ve listened to me, my baby would still be here,” she said.

Balon says her daughter had checked in to the Brief and Social Detox centre in Saskatoon to deal with a crystal meth addiction.

“After waiting six weeks [to get in], she was in there for four days in a place with a whole bunch of other men. It was just as bad as the correctional, like beds everywhere,” said Balon.

One night Brown lashed out at one of the staff for waking her up in the middle of the night, cursing at her, said Balon. She was kicked out of the facility.

Balon says the centre would not allow her to return, showing a lack of empathy for someone in need.

In an emailed statement, the Saskatchewan Health Authority said numerous factors are considered, and decisions to remove someone from a program are considered carefully.

“When admitted into a MHAS program, clinicians will review program expectations with the client to ensure safety for all engaging in the program / service.”

Balon says waitlist times for detox centres in Regina were three months long, and 20 days for a centre in Moose Jaw.

The SHA says the current wait time for a first appointment with an addictions counselor is one week, with urgent referrals getting priority for an earlier appointment.

“The wait time for individual mental health counseling appointments for adults is currently 6-8 weeks (non-urgent). For children and youth, urgent referrals are seen within 7 days, and non-urgent referrals meet nationally recognized wait time benchmarks.”

“During this time she just felt defeated. Every door she went to was closed. Nobody would help her, so she tried to jump off a bridge,” said Balon.

Afterwards she says police took her to the Irene & Leslie Dube Centre for Mental Health, where Rosenfeldt would visit her.

“We told them many times he's abusive…don't let her near him, she doesn't want to be with him,” said Balon.

“On the fourth day, the psychiatrist called me and said “We've released her to him, he's a good guy, he's going to take care of her””.

A month later, and Brown was dead.

Balon says the healthcare system isn’t designed for people with mental health and addiction issues to succeed, and it failed her daughter.

“Now she's gone, and now it's my turn to give her justice,” she said.

“It's time for a change, and I'm going to do my best to do it.”