Toronto police say a “very active” investigation is underway after a toddler fell to their death from an apartment building in North York on Sunday.
Emergency crews were called to the scene at Don Mills Road and Graydon Hall Drive, near Highway 401 and the Don Valley Parkway, at approximately 12:20 p.m.
The toddler, whose age and gender have not been released by officials, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Residents distraught
CTV News Toronto visited the building on Monday where residents are expressing collective grief.
Next-door neighbours are describing the child as a two-year-old girl, who moved into the building with her parents earlier this year.
Lorraine lives on the 12th floor. She said she saw something fall off the building above her around that time, striking a window. She said she looked over the balcony moments later and saw a little girl on the ground. Her devastated mother was there, holding her and “screaming,” she said.
Another resident said he also saw the child’s the mother screaming, saying the word “mirabacha,” which in Hindi which means “my child.” He said was so traumatized by the incident that he couldn’t work yesterday.
Windows have stoppers, but are single pane: residents
Others told CTV News Toronto that while the units have childproof safety stoppers, the building’s glass windows are single-pane and up until recently children were not permitted to live there.
“It’s my worst nightmare. I’m constantly telling (my) boys (to stay) away from the windows, away from the balcony,” said one resident.
Calling what happened “tragic,” another distraught resident told CTV News Toronto that no parent should be going through this “horrible situation.”
We reached out to Graydon Hall Management by phone and in person.
A representative said they couldn’t say if it was now an adults-only building, adding the incident is “under investigation” and there’s “nothing else” they can say.
Fourth child to die in fall since March
While police have not said what led up to Sunday’s incident, it marks the fourth time since March in Ontario that a child has fallen out of an apartment building and died.
On March 9, a four-year-old child fell from an apartment balcony in Mississauga and later died in hospital. A six-year-old girl fell to her death from an apartment building window in North York on April 26. A day later, in Ottawa, a four-year-old boy was killed after he fell from an apartment window in that city.
“It’s absolutely devastating to families and communities everywhere hearing this news. I mean, the loss of a young life is just totally unacceptable,” CTV News Public Safety Analyst and former Ontario Provincial Police commissioner Chris Lewis said Monday.
Police have to rule out criminality: Lewis
Lewis said that the investigation — which Toronto police told CTV News on Monday is “very active” — will now focus on how exactly the child killed in Sunday’s incident fell.
“So how, in fact, did this happen, is what is under investigation by police, not to suggest it was a criminal act of any kind, but they certainly have to rule that out,” he said.
Police wouldn’t say where the child fell from. Residents, however, have told CTV News Toronto that the incident happened on the 19th floor.
As the investigation continues and the temperature in the city starts to warm up, Lewis said there are things parents and guardians who live in highrises can do to protect their children.
In addition to clearing your apartment’s balcony (or any area near a window) of any furniture to prevent young children from climbing on them, mechanisms that lock windows and doors are also worth investing in, Lewis said. Conversations about safety while living in a condo are also worth having.
“These are the sorts of things that parents have to think about. And the poor parents in this case might have thought of all of that and just turned their head for one second, and something ungodly occurred,” he said.
With files from CTV News Toronto’s Janice Golding
