Jasmin Kyle was unconscious for seven hours in the parking lot on a cold night in December 2019 before a grader operator found her around 3am Police were called to the scene and performed CPR before taking her to Misericordia Hospital where she later died. An autopsy later revealed that Jasmin was highly intoxicated at the time of her death. She also had cannabis in her system. The death was ruled accidental. “I still can’t believe she’s gone,” Jasmin’s grandmother, Debbie Sandberg, told CBC News. “He has left a huge hole in our hearts and changed our family forever.” Sandberg filed the lawsuit five months ago, but is only now speaking out about Jasmin’s death. Two unnamed security guards are also named as part of the $165,000 lawsuit. Debbie Sandberg with her granddaughter Jasmin in an undated photo. (Contributed by Debbie Sandberg)
Security can’t locate anyone
On December 6, 2019, Jasmin told her grandparents that she was going to a movie with a girlfriend and then going to sleep. Instead, Jasmin and a friend ended up at the West Edmonton Mall and the Rec Room, which is owned by Cineplex Entertainment. Sandberg isn’t sure how her granddaughter got access to the alcohol, but said police told her surveillance video showed Jasmine and seven other youths outside the Rec Room. “They were seen on the video cameras outside in the Rec Room parking lot drinking and having a snowball fight and things like that,” Sandberg said. I was the last one to hold her when she died – Debbie Sandberg According to the autopsy report, CCTV footage showed Jasmin leaving the Rec Room at 6:50 p.m. He said when police viewed the video, they located Jasmin at 7:33 p.m. running up some parking lot stairs, chasing after another girl and laughing. The autopsy report says a report was made around 8 p.m. at the West Edmonton Mall of an intoxicated woman passed out in the same parking lot where Jasmin was eventually discovered. The post-mortem report said there was no CCTV coverage of the car park where Jasmin was found. “West Edmonton Mall security personnel then responded to the parking lot but were unable to locate anyone,” the report states. It was -10 degrees that night. According to the police, Jasmin’s body was found between a cement barrier and a wall right next to this stairwell. (CBC) A grader operator finally found Jasmin in the now-empty parking lot at 3 a.m. Her body was wedged between a concrete barrier and a wall. The police were called to the scene.
The constable performed CPR
Const. Brady Dryer and his partner were near the West Edmonton Mall when the dispatch call came. “We knew it was cold outside, so it was important to get there quickly,” Dryer told CBC News in an interview last week. Draer said when they got to Jasmine she wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. He began CPR while his partner called an ambulance. Due to height restrictions, the ambulance was unable to climb the ramp. “We needed to get Jasmin to a hospital,” Dryer said. “So instead of waiting any longer, we put her in the back of the police vehicle where I continued to perform CPR. Edmonton Police Service Const. Brady Dryer performed CPR on Jasmin as his partner took her to the hospital in their squad car. (Sam Martin/CBC) “My partner then drove the lights and sirens of the police vehicles to the hospital.” A short time later, Sandberg received a call from the police telling her that Jasmin was in the trauma room at the hospital with 15 people working to save her life. They urged her to go to the hospital immediately. Hospital staff tried for almost four hours to revive Jasmin before the doctor pronounced her dead. “I was the first one to hold her when she was born,” Sandberg said. “And I was the last one to hold her when she died.”
“He had this very nice, kind smile”
Sandberg said that in the first week after Jasmin’s death, she had trouble sleeping. “I would always wake up between three and four in the morning and envision her lying in the snow bank,” Sandberg said. Dryer is also haunted by memory. “You know I actually remember Jasmin having a school ID,” Dryer said. “I remember seeing her smile in the picture and she had this really nice, kind smile. Sandberg says that in the first week after Jasmin’s death, she had trouble sleeping. (Scott Neufeld/CBC) “I think about that whenever I think about this case.” Draer and his partner investigated Jasmine’s death and visited Sandberg to answer any questions she had. They continue to stay in touch. “I think Jasmin’s family left a big impact on me,” Dryer said. “It’s definitely a calling I’ll think about for the rest of my life.”
A lawsuit was filed
The statement of claim alleges that Jasmin’s death was caused by negligence. He argued that mall security “did not leave the premises to search outside for Jasmin Kyle, but at best, only reviewed the limited security camera views available”. The court document also accuses the defendants of serving alcohol to minors, employing incompetent or poorly trained staff and failing to have adequate video or other surveillance. The allegations have not been proven in court. No statements of defense have been filed. West Edmonton Mall did not respond to CBC’s repeated requests for comment. In a written statement, a Cineplex representative speaking on behalf of the Rec Room called Jasmin’s death a “tragic loss” and offered condolences to the teenager’s friends and family, but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing legal matter. Sandberg knows her granddaughter made some bad choices that night, but she believes others share the blame, including those who were with her granddaughter. She said none of them ever apologized to her or her family. Sandberg also hopes the companies she complains about will make meaningful changes to prevent another death like Jasmin’s from happening again. “I’m sure there are a lot of people who could attest that they made some stupid choices when they were teenagers and are here to talk about it,” Sandberg said. “Pay the worst price you could ever pay.”
