TORONTO — Two young boys were found without vital signs in a northeast Toronto apartment after their mother fell from a balcony, police said Monday as they investigated the deaths of the brothers as suspicious.
Police said they were called to an apartment building around 7:30 p.m. Sunday and found a 25-year-old woman on the ground who appeared to have fallen from a unit. She had serious injuries but is expected to survive.
Based on information received at the scene, officers conducted a wellness check on two boys believed to be in the apartment, they said.
In a news conference Monday morning, acting Insp. Terry Browne of the homicide unit said officers had to break into the home and found two boys, aged four and five, without vital signs. The children died in hospital and an autopsy is scheduled later this week, no sooner than Wednesday, he said.
At this time, it is not possible to know what – or who – may have caused the children's deaths, Browne said.
"When we went inside, there were clearly vital signs absent, but there was also not a lot or any visible trauma to their bodies, so we don't know who caused the deaths of the two boys at this point," he said.
"So it's being treated as a suspicious death, two deaths, pending the outcome of the autopsy."
Browne said that "given the circumstances" of the case, the homicide unit would be leading the investigation.
"Certainly, it's not an everyday occurrence where we have a situation where a young person dies with no known history or signs of trauma, but to have two of the same family found in this, the way it's presented ... we're acting on inferences but we're drawing no conclusions at this point."
Browne also said that based on preliminary information, he believes the woman's fall was not accidental, nor was she "assisted in falling over the balcony."
There is no reason to believe someone was with her at the time, and there was no one else inside the unit when officers arrived, he said.
Browne said the woman's injuries are "quite serious" but she is expected to survive at this time, adding she is set to undergo surgery.
Police confirmed the boys are the woman's sons but said they could not provide further information on "the family dynamic" at this time. Browne said investigators have been speaking to some of the woman's relatives and all have been co-operative so far.
A neighbour brought flowers and placed them outside the building on Monday, describing the family as quiet and happy.
"They were always happy and those children were two little angels," Fatimah Yassin said. "We never heard anything bad about them. Those kids were always smiling. They were always happy."
Yassin said she could tell "something really bad" had happened when she saw one of the boys receiving CPR outside the building Sunday evening. "It was horrific," she said.
She said the woman's husband had recently passed away from cancer. Police were asked Monday if the children's father had recently died but declined to comment.
Semone Smith, who lives in the same neighbourhood, said she was upset by the news.
"I came out this morning to see this yellow tape and mentally I was distraught, disturbed," she said while standing near an area of the building parking lot that was taped off by the police. "Why on earth something like this has happened."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2023.
Paola Loriggio and Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press
