Regis Korchinski-Paquet’s mother was shown snippets of security footage from the day her daughter died as she resumed her testimony at a coroner’s inquest on Friday after making a new allegation against police involved in the case.
Claudette Beals watched several short clips from a nearly 50-minute video combining silent CCTV footage from the hallway outside their west-end Toronto home with audio from 911 calls and a police microphone. The video was previously played in its entirety at the inquest.
In one clip, Beals and her son are seen going into the apartment, minutes after Korchinski-Paquet went in to use the bathroom.
“What is she doing?” Beals says in the recording. She agreed Friday that she was referring to her daughter.
Another clip shows Beals and two officers leave the apartment, and another soon after shows her knocking on the neighbour’s door, saying her daughter “jumped.”
Inquest counsel Roger Shallow asked her about it on Friday afternoon.
“The police told me that Regis committed suicide, so you know what, why are you asking me this question?” she responded.
“Is that what we heard you say at this point in time on the video?” Shallow asked again.
“That’s exactly what you heard me say,” Beals said.
At various points Friday, Beals was asked if she needed a break from watching the video, but she said she was OK to continue.
Korchinski-Paquet, a 29-year-old Afro-Indigenous woman, fell from a highrise balcony in the presence of police on May 27, 2020.
Beals testified Thursday that she saw officers push her daughter toward the balcony, prompting the inquest to take a prolonged break as counsel for the parties figured out a way forward.
The presiding coroner, Dr. David Cameron, told jurors Thursday counsel were strategizing on how to best have them hear evidence related to the circumstances of Korchinski-Paquet’s death “in a clear and fair manner.”
As the inquest reconvened Friday morning, Cameron said counsel had worked “very late into the evening to reach a consensus on how to proceed forward” but weren’t “quite there yet.”
He encouraged jurors to review and discuss the evidence until mid-afternoon, which is when Beals continued her testimony.
Right before the proceedings wrapped for the day, Shallow asked Beals if she blamed herself for what happened to her daughter, while stressing it was not her fault.
“Do you feel, even though you shouldn’t — because of course we’ve heard of your challenges and your frustration, and you called the police to have your children removed, and this fateful tragedy unfolded — do you feel a sense, even though you shouldn’t, of guilt because of that?” he said.
“I feel very responsible for my daughter’s death, very responsible,” she replied.
Beals is set to face questions from lawyers representing roughly a dozen parties next week.
On Thursday, she said that the family struggled at times to deal with Korchinski-Paquet’s seizures and would have benefited from support and education regarding epilepsy.
The inquest has heard Korchinski-Paquet experienced seizures from epilepsy and had two on the day she died.
Her seizures were often followed by periods of erratic and aggressive behaviour, the inquest has heard. A neurologist who reviewed her records said she had previously shown symptoms in keeping with postictal delirium, an altered state of mind that can follow seizures.
Beals, her son and Korchinski-Paquet each called 911 in the afternoon of May 27, 2020, to report a fight involving knives. Six officers and two paramedics arrived at the building soon after.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2026.
Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
