Ashley Smith coroner's jury visit prison cell where teen died5 women jurors toured Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont.Posted:Jan 17, 2013 10:29 AM ETLast Updated:Jan 17, 2013 8:38 PM ETA coroner's jury in Toronto that is probing the case of teenagerAshley Smith visited the small prison cell in the southern Ontariofacility where she died five years ago.The five-woman panel on Thursday toured the federal Grand ValleyInstitution for Women in Kitchener, where the 19-year-old choked todeath after tying a piece of cloth around her neck, to get a first-handlook at where she spent her final days.Jurors asked officials many questions about her cell — abeige-painted cell measuring 1.5 metres wide by three metres long — inthe prison's segregation unit, such as how often it was cleaned, theCBC's Ioanna Roumeliotis reported from Kitchener.The CBC and The Canadian Press are accompanying the inquest panel ontheir tour as pool media representatives, gathering information for allmedia outlets.The panel requested that guards shut the door, with them inside, toget an idea of what it was like for Smith, Roumeliotis added.Ashley Smith choked to death in her cell at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont., on Oct. 19, 2007. (Marnie Luke/CBC)"It's clear that these jurors are taking their task reallyseriously," she said. "They really do want to get a real sense of whatAshley Smith's time in prison was like."Inside the cell was a single bed with a rolled-up pad that serves as amattress. There were a sink and a toilet behind a privacy screen,Roumeliotis reported. The cell also had a single window, which wasequipped with a camera, she said.Jurors also took time to peer through the knee-level food slot in thecell door. Smith often lay at the foot of the door, and most of thetime, looking through the slot was the only way guards could get a goodlook at her, Roumeliotis added. There was also a small viewing window atabout eye level.Evidence about what guards could see of the cell interior is expectedto play a role given that Smith frequently covered the interiorsurveillance camera and viewing window with toilet paper, The CanadianPress reported.Bits of toilet paper are still visible on some of the cameras.After examining Smith's cell, the jurors and media toured themaximum-security area, Roumeliotis reported, although the troubled teenspent little time there.2nd inquest attemptSmith spent years being shuttled back and forth between the country's prisons and was in isolation much of the time.She died on Oct. 19, 2007, after she tied a ligature around her neck,as prison guards stood outside her cell and watched. They say they weretold not to intervene. Guards also videotaped her death, footage ofwhich will be shown to jurors at a later date.The inquest began Monday, with coroner Dr. John Carlisle calling it the "best memorial to we could give to Ashley."AshleySmith, shown surrounded by guards at a prison at Joliette, Que. in July2007, in this image made from video. Smith spent years being shuttledback and forth among the country's prisons before her death in October2007. (Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario/Canadian Press)"Wecannot now reverse the course of history as it unfolded, but we canlearn from the circumstances of this death, and try … to implementmeasures to prevent future tragedies," he said Monday in his openingremarks.This is the second inquest into Smith's death, after the firstattempt went off the rails amid acrimonious legal squabbling. Thatinquest was scrapped after the first presiding coroner retired.Carlisle has said he wants the impact of prolonged segregation onSmith's mental health explored. Smith suffered from an anti-socialpersonality disorder with borderline traits, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2010/11/01/ashley-smith-report. hopes for changeSmith'sfamily says it hopes the inquest will answer lingering questions aboutthe teenager's death, and lead to tangible changes in the system.Themother of Ashley Smith, Coralee Smith, says she hopes the secondinquest into her daughter's death will lead to changes to thecorrectional system. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)"Westill have Ashleys, we still have Ashleys being treated in the sametortuous, horrendous ways that Ashley was treated," her mother, CoraleeSmith, told CBC News."The money they're using, the money that's being spent keeping peoplein prison, could be much better directed … at mental health servicesway before they get to the courtroom, way before."Smith's family, however, have not been able to attend inquesthearings due to Coralee's frail health, their lawyer Julian Falconersaid.