By Catherine O’Hara, REVIEW STAFF

Wendy Baron doesn’t remember much from the night 17-year-old Christopher Skinner, a talented musician who was only months away from commencing first-year studies at the University of Toronto, died on the floor in her family room.

In her testimony on the fourth day of a discretionary coroner’s inquest into the death of the Flamborough teen, Baron said she doesn’t remember seeing any of her sons and their friends, some of whom were under age, doing shots of screech in the early morning hours of June 6, 2010. She doesn’t remember seeing or hearing Skinner fall and hit his head on the kitchen counter. She doesn’t remember how or when Skinner was guided to the family room, where he passed out after consuming enough alcohol over the course of a few hours to boost his blood content to nearly five times the legal limit. She doesn’t remember participating in a hazing incident, where she is said to have written “left” and “right” on the soles of the teen’s feet. She doesn’t remember seeing his friends further deface his body with black and red ink. She doesn’t remember witnessing anybody putting CDs on the teen’s head, nor can she recall witnessing his ankles being bound with duct tape.

“I don’t remember much of that night, I’m sorry,” said an emotional Baron when asked a slew of questions by the coroner’s counsel, Karen Shea, Wednesday afternoon.

Baron claims that at around the dinner hour on June 5, she began drinking beer. Shortly thereafter, she and her husband spent some time playing a video game and continued drinking. By the time her eldest son, Jesse, arrived home after a baseball match with his friends, she had consumed up to eight beers. The boys retreated to the basement where she heard them playing beer pong, a drinking game.

Later that evening, Baron’s youngest son, Kyle, and his pals, including Skinner, turned up after attending a gathering at a Waterdown home earlier in the evening. The group spent time in the garage, where, according to previous witness statements, the boys consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana. They eventually migrated into the house to continue partying.

Baron said she couldn’t be sure the boys were drinking in the garage, nor could she be sure if they had smoked any pot. However, “I saw the bong,” said Baron of the device used to smoke the illegal herb.

Asked if the presence and consumption of illicit drugs in her home cause her to become alarmed, Baron said, “It does concern me.” She said she made attempts to raise those concerns – and many others – with Kyle, who was 18 at the time. “He tends not to listen to me,” said the Waterdown mom.

It is not an offence to allow underage teens to consume alcohol in an Ontario household, but it is illegal to supply a person, who is under the legal drinking age, with alcohol.

“I thought the law, if I didn’t provide it, it would not be fine, but I guess I wouldn’t be in trouble for it,” said Baron of the lax rules surrounding underage drinking in her home. She also believed it was safer for her sons to party at home.

Skinner’s lifeless body was discovered at approximately 10:30 a.m. on June 6, 2010 after a night of binge drinking, which took place, in part, at the Baron family home.

“I was shocked,” said Baron. “I couldn’t believe it had happened.”

But the five-person jury at the inquest heard that nothing was done to prevent Skinner’s death. Baron noted that on the night of June 5 and in the early morning hours of June 6, she, too, had consumed a lot of alcohol.

At the time, she never considered calling Skinner’s parents to advise them of their son’s condition. She never considered dialing 911. She never considered that the 17-year-old was in distress and required medical attention.

“I wasn’t in my right mind to think that way,” she said.

Now, Baron testified at the inquest, she would handle the situation much differently and more responsibly.

But the situation, as noted during the inquest, hasn’t been discussed at length in the Baron home “because I am feeling guilty about the whole situation,” she said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the jury heard from Jesse and Kyle, who are 21 and 19, respectively. While Jesse said he’s cut down on his alcohol consumption following Skinner’s death, his younger brother stated he has no intentions of giving up his drinking and partying ways.

Baron said that she’s addressed the dangers of alcohol use and abuse with Kyle; however, she struggles to get through to him. “Trying to get them (her sons) to sit still to listen,” has proved challenging, she said.

If youth don’t heed the warnings of adults regarding the excessive use of alcohol, then who is in a better position to deliver the message? The inquest jury, as well as the coroner’s counsel and members with standing, are hoping to gain better insight on the issue by posing this very question to many of the witnesses.

It will be up to the jury to make recommendations based on the testimony they hear during the inquest. The suggestions would focus on preventing a similar alcohol-related death.

Dr. Jack Stanborough is presiding over the inquest, which is slated to resume Friday (Feb. 17) morning at 9 a.m. Baron’s husband, Doug, is expected to take the witness stand at approximately 1 p.m. Friday.