The jury in a coroner’s inquest into the 2024 death of a St George’s woman has found that she died of natural causes.

The jury returned the verdict at the conclusion of the inquiry into the death of Jennifer Steede, 61, who was pronounced dead at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital on the afternoon on May 16, 2024, after police responded to a reported mental health emergency at her home.

Magistrate Maria Sofianos told the court that the inquest was held for a “judicial purpose”, to determine how Ms Steede came by her demise and bring closure to her family.

The magistrate offered condolences to Joshua Smith, Ms Steede’s son and hailed him for his efforts during the hearing.

“The way you represented your mom has been admirable,” she told Mr Smith.

During the hearing, Mr Smith said although their relationship had many ups and downs, he loved his mother deeply.

He said the circumstances of her interactions with police on the day she died were central to understanding how and why his mother died.

The jury heard a written statement from Ms Steede’s neighbour, a Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute community support worker, who called the police that morning after seeing her outside partially naked.

The witness said that she had known Ms Steede for years and was aware that she was mentally unstable when not properly medicated.

The inquest also heard from Brian McNab, of the tactical training unit for the Bermuda Police Service, who gave evidence that Ms Steede was known to be suffering from bipolar affective disorder and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Mr McNab — the final witness in the inquest — described different tactics police are trained to deploy while carrying out their duties, and delivered his assessment of the officers’ handling of Ms Steede, going by what he witnessed in a series of CCTV videos.

He said that at one point Ms Steede needed to be lifted from the ground and was noncompliant, with her legs stretched out in front of her, making it difficult for them to raise her.

The inquest also heard that Christopher Milroy, a pathologist, found that Ms Steede died as a result of hypertensive heart disease, a condition caused by high blood pressure.

He told the inquest that police involvement did not meaningfully contribute to Ms Steede’s death.

The inquest heard that Ms Steede had complained of difficulty breathing before being placed in a police car.

Firefighters who attended the scene said that shortly after they arrived, Ms Steede stopped breathing and they lost her pulse. She was pronounced dead that afternoon at KEMH.

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