Taylor Mitchell

Taylor Josephine Stephanie Luciow (August 27, 1990 – October 27, 2009), known by her stage name Taylor Mitchell, was a Canadian country folk singer and songwriter from Toronto.

Her debut and only album, For Your Consideration, received encouraging reviews and airplay.

Following a busy summer performance schedule, which included an appearance as a young performer at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Mitchell embarked on a tour of Eastern Canada with a newly acquired license and car.

Mitchell died at the age of 19 of injuries and blood loss after two eastern coyotes (coywolves) mauled her while she was walking along Cape Breton Highlands National Park's Skyline Trail.

Her death is the only known fatal coyote attack on an adult and the only known fatal coyote attack on a human ever confirmed in Canada.

It shocked experts and led to a reassessment of the risk to humans from the predator behaviour of coyotes.

Mitchell was born with the given name Taylor Josephine Stephanie Luciow.

Her parents were Emily and Ray Luciow.

She grew up in the Roncesvalles neighbourhood of Toronto.

Taylor became interested in performing by her mid teens, and after graduating from the Etobicoke School of the Arts with a major in musical theatre, decided on a career as a singer and songwriter, taking the surname "Mitchell" as her stage name.

She had released a four track EP in 2007, she independently released an album titled For Your Consideration in March 2009.

In June 2009, she was invited to perform in the Winnipeg Folk Festival.

Reaction from the roots music community and radio stations was positive, and she began working on new material.

A contributor to the album, Justin Rutledge, later described Mitchell as having written beyond her years: "She didn’t provide answers, as so many of her age try to do. There was no preciousness [sic] about her. Instead she asked questions."

To promote the album she went on a solo concert tour of the Maritime provinces, beginning on October 23, 2009.

A few days before her death, Taylor was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award as Young Performer of the Year.

Her last performance was in Lucasville, near Halifax; there were two days before her scheduled concert in Sydney.

Mitchell's only album, For Your Consideration, was released in March 2009.

Guest musicians on the album included Justin Rutledge, Lynn Miles, Suzie Vinnick, John Dinsmore, and Michael Johnston.

The album received a positive review from Exclaim!, with Eric Thom describing her as "definitively old school, if not world-weary", while Now Toronto described it as sounding "like it comes from someone of a completely different generation".

Having some free time before her next concert, Mitchell, an environmentalist who enjoyed nature walks, went to Cape Breton Highlands National Park on the sunny afternoon of October 27, 2009.

At 14:45, a middle-aged American couple going in the opposite direction passed her near the beginning of the Skyline Trail in Petit Étang.

For an unknown reason, she doubled back after going a short distance along the trail and came back down the access road intending to return to her car.

It is possible a coyote was stalking her at this stage.

At 15:02, an American couple named Mike and Gayle hiked on the access road heading to the car park.

They moved out of the way when two coyotes were walking toward them along the road, but going in the opposite direction.

One of the hikers photographed the coyotes with his camera before heading directly to the car park.

Trent University's Environmental and Life Sciences graduate program professor and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources research scientist, Brent Patterson, later commented that the two coyotes in the male hiker's photo exhibited an extraordinary lack of fear, with one displaying what verged on a dominant attitude toward humans.

It is believed these coyotes walked into Mitchell on the access road six minutes later, when Mike and Gayle heard what they thought could be either animals howling or a young woman screaming in the distance.

The American middle-aged couple reported these commotions in a telephone box at the car park.

A group of four other hikers arrived in the car park, where they heard about the possible screams in the distance from the American couple.

After several minutes' walk along the access road they began to find Mitchell's personal items, including keys and a small knife (believed to have been used by her in an attempt to defend herself as she was forced back up the access road and onto the Skyline Trail).

As the hikers turned into the clearing at the head of the trail, they saw torn pieces of bloodied clothing and a large amount of blood along the ground.

A washroom in the clearing had blood on the door.

At 15:25 they found Mitchell lying nearby among trees, with a coyote standing over her.

After repeated charges by the three young men, the coyote moved away from her.

She was conscious and able to speak with the rescuers.

The coyote remained close by, growling and unafraid until a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer fired a shotgun at it.

Mitchell was bitten over most of her body, with particularly serious wounds to her leg and head.

Paramedics took her to Sacred Heart Community Health Centre in Chéticamp, where she was then airlifted to Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in critical condition.