EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes a discussion of suicide.
The parents of a teen who died by suicide two years ago are suing Kenneth Law, an Ontario man accused of aiding suicide through the online sale of chemicals.
Aurora residents Leonardo A. Bedoya Forero and Maria S. Lopez Ocana filed a lawsuit this month in Ontario Superior Court seeking $2 million and other related damages. The lawsuit stems from the 2022 suicide death of their daughter, Jeshennia Bedoya Lopez. None of the allegations in the lawsuit have been proven in court.
Law, 58, has been charged with 14 counts of both first-degree murder, as well as counselling and aiding suicide in Ontario. His lawyer has said Law would plead not guilty.
Investigators have alleged that Law ran several websites that were used to sell sodium nitrite and other items that can be used for self-harm, shipping them to people in more than 40 countries.
In their lawsuit, Bedoya Lopez’s parents allege their daughter and Law were in contact for her to obtain a “suicide kit” to help carry out her death.
“The Plaintiffs plead the Defendant Law operated this online store with the primary intent of assisting, luring and/or enabling suicide to vulnerable individuals such as Jeshennia,” their lawsuit reads.
“On September 10, 2022, Jeshennia committed suicide and ended her life, causing the Plaintiffs to suffer mental shock, anguish, pain and suffering, and the losses herainfter described.”
Doctors, hospital targeted in lawsuit
Investigators have alleged Law operated several websites selling sodium nitrite — a substance which can be lethal in large doses.
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Sodium nitrite is a white, crystalline substance used as a food additive and typically found in processed meats. Intentional consumption of excessive amounts of this substance can reduce oxygen levels, impair breathing and result in death.
Peel Regional Police, the force leading the investigation in Ontario, believe more than 1,200 packages were sent out to 40 countries globally and around 160 packages were sent across Canada. Authorities in the U.K., United States, Italy and Australia have launched investigations.
Worldwide, Law may be connected with at least 129 deaths by suicide.
In Ontario, he faces a total of 28 charges. The victims in Ontario were both male and female and between the ages of 16 and 36 years old, and Peel police said more than one victim was under the age of 18.
Police have alleged packages from the following companies are connected to Law: Imtime Cuisine, AmbuCA, Academic/ACademic, Escape Mode/escMode and ICemac.
In their lawsuit, Bedoya Lopez’s parents are also targeting a hospital and several doctors for their “medical negligence.”
They claim their daughter first attempted to die by suicide on March 27, 2020. She was treated medically and was under psychiatric care for roughly a year.
On Aug. 6, 2022, their daughter attended a hospital emergency department as she was feeling very depressed, had anxiety and panic attacks and thoughts of self harm and suicide.
She was discharged and returned the next day, when she was assessed and released once again. Her parents allege in their lawsuit their daughter should have been admitted and if it wasn’t for the hospital’s “medical negligence,” their daughter would have “not have commited suicide and fallen victim to the Defendant Law and/or John Doe Corporation.”
In January, prosecutors in Law’s case said the attorney general had decided to proceed by direct indictment, sending the case directly to trial in Superior Court without a preliminary inquiry.
A preliminary inquiry is typically used to determine whether the Crown has assembled enough evidence against an accused to proceed to trial.
His trial is expected to begin in September.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help, For immediate mental health support, call 988. For a directory of support services in your area, visit the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention at suicideprevention.ca. Learn more about preventing suicide with these warning signs and tips on how to help.
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