The province’s police watchdog says it has wrapped up most of the work for its investigation into the death of a 29-year-old woman who fell from her High Park Avenue apartment while Toronto police were present, but the organization is waiting for the family to conclude their own investigation before releasing any results.

Regis Korchinski-Paquet fell to her death from her apartment balcony on May 27. The young woman was suffering a mental health episode and her mother had asked officers to take her to CAMH.

While in police custody, she went back into her apartment to use the bathroom and was followed in by a number of officers, according to her family. A short time later, she fell to her death.  

Critics of both police and the SIU have said that the investigation should be both swift and transparent.

The Special Investigations Unit has acknowledged that and on Friday released a timeline of their investigation so far.

Seven civilian witnesses, six witness officers and one subject officer have been interviewed as part of the investigation.

The SIU said it has interviewed three family members who made themselves available on various dates between June 18 and July 10. A fourth family member declined to be interviewed but provided a written statement to SIU investigators on July 7.

“While the SIU was ready to interview family members as soon as possible, it respects the time the family needed to mourn their loss prior to feeling ready to provide interviews,” the SIU said in its statement Friday.

The organization also said that it received the results of an autopsy on June 17, but learned on July 14 that the family plans to have a second autopsy conducted out of province.

The SIU said the results of that autopsy are not expected until sometime in August although the family previously suggested that the results could be available by as soon as next week.

“Out of an abundance of caution, SIU Director Joseph Martino has decided to wait for the results of this second post-mortem before concluding the investigation and arriving at a decision,” the statement read.

The SIU also said Friday that it has written to the family’s lawyer asking for information about an additional witness who was present at the apartment. The SIU said the family mentioned the witness while talking about their own investigation at a July 15 news conference.

“Today, the SIU wrote to counsel asking that they provide the SIU with all evidence in their possession and identify any and all witnesses whom they are aware of, as soon as possible,” the agency said.

Activists and observers have been eagerly awaiting the findings of the SIU report and the agency recently told CP24 in an email that it was close to wrapping up.

The death has sparked anger and further questions about how police deal with people of colour and people in crisis. It also comes amid a wider backlash against police and the call to defund police services in the wake of the high-profile police killing of George Floyd, caught on video, in Minneapolis.