Vancouver Island’s Major Crimes Unit is investigating the case of a Victoria teenager whose death was initially ruled an accidental overdose but has since been reclassified by coroners as a homicide.

During a committee of the whole meeting Thursday, Victoria Police Chief Del Manak said his department has referred Samantha Sims-Somerville’s case to Vancouver Island’s Integrated Major Crime Unit.

The 18-year-old died from a toxic dose of GHB, a date-rape drug, after attending a party in Victoria in April 2021.

“We think if the coroner’s service has reclassified it as a homicide, we should — out of an abundance of caution — have someone else independent outside of the Victoria Police Department investigators look at it,” Manak said in an interview. . with CTV News after Thursday’s meeting.

The BC Coroners Service initially determined Sims-Somerville’s death was an accidental overdose. After reopening the investigation, the service concluded in late October that her death was a homicide. The medical examiner’s definition of homicide is death caused by injury intentionally caused by the action of another person and is “a neutral term that does not imply fault or blame.”

Manak said he plans to meet with the coroner’s office next week. He said VicPD was seeking clarity on the evidence that led the coroner to change his initial decision on Sims-Somerville’s cause of death.

“Is there something I missed or overlooked? We certainly don’t feel that’s the case,” Manak said.

“But because it has been reclassified from the coroner’s service as a homicide, we think what we need to do is take a fresh look, re-examine this investigation and then determine whether Victoria Police investigators took the appropriate action.”

Sims-Somerville’s mother, Tracy Sims, said Victoria Police had closed their investigation into her daughter’s death in September 2022. No one had ever been charged.

Sims lodged a Police Act complaint against the VicPD for its “grossly inadequate” investigation. The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner is investigating her complaint.

Sims expects the OPCC findings to be published in the new year.

-With files from CTV News Scott Cunningham in Vancouver Island