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Ashley Smith, 19, at Grand Valley Institution, in a still from a video shot days before she died in 2007.

Ashley Smith was 19 when she choked herself with a strip of cloth at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont., in October, 2007.

The mentally ill teen's death, which is the subject of an ongoing coroner's inquest, ended years of detention that began in 2003, much of it alone in segregation cells at institutions across the country.

On Thursday, the inquest released footage from Grand Valley Institution, recorded Oct. 15, 2007 - just five days before she died.

In one of the videos, correctional officers attempt to coax Ms. Smith to remove a ligature tied round her neck - behaviour she had a reputation for - and show Ms. Smith with a swollen face and eyes. In the end, guards enter her cell and remove the ligature.

While the video is not graphic, the scenes may be disturbing to some viewers and discretion is advised. View the footage here.

The Globe's Christie Blatchford is covering the inquest. Read her latest story here.

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