Toronto Police Accused Of Pushing Black Woman From 24th Floor Balcony
Toronto police are being accused of pushing a Black woman off an apartment balcony to her death in the city’s High Park neighbourhood.
The incident took place on Wednesday, May 27, at around 5:15 pm. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said Toronto police responded to a “domestic incident” at an apartment building on High Park Avenue. While inside a unit on the 24th floor, police “observed” a woman on the balcony. “A short time later, the woman fell from the balcony to the ground,” according to a news release from the SIU. Police did not release the woman’s name but family members publicly identified her as Regis Korchinski-Paquet.
In several videos posted on his @rocawrld Instagram account, her cousin alleges that police threw her off the building and left her body at the scene for hours. He says the police claimed she committed suicide. 
The family’s lawyer Knia Singh said the victim’s mother, Claudette Beals-Clayton, sought police assistance because Regis was experiencing a mental health crisis, and pleaded with them to take her daughter to CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) for mental health support.
Singh said words were exchanged between Regis and the police officers in the hallway before she went inside her apartment to use the bathroom.
Multiple officers followed her in the unit while her brother was blocked from entering. About two minutes later, her mother and brother heard commotion inside and Regis crying out for help. Eventually an officer came out and told her mother that she was on the ground.
The family is demanding #JusticeforRegis and wants answers to how a call for assistance resulted in her death. Singh finds it suspicious suicide is being mentioned considering Regis asked building management for weeks to install a protective screen around the apartment balcony.
Police Chief Mark Saunders and Mayor John Tory offered condolences to his family, while the SIU is asking anyone with information to contact the lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529 or upload any video evidence on the SIU website.
A protest for Regis has been organized at Christie Pits on Saturday, May 30 at 2:00 pm.
Read the full statement HERE.
