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SIU clears all police officers in the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet

SIU clears all police officers in the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet-Milenio Stadium-GTA
Regis Korchinski-Paquet died at age 29 after police were called to her apartment in Toronto on May 27, 2020. (Newediuk Funeral Home)

 

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has cleared all police officers of wrongdoing in the death of 29-year-old Regis Korchinski-Paquet, the agency announced Wednesday.

The Toronto woman fell to her death from her 24th-floor apartment balcony on May 27 after police were called to her home.

Her mother, Claudia Clayton-Beals, then posted a video online, stating that she believed police officers pushed Korchinski-Paquet off the balcony.

“The police killed my daughter, came into my apartment and shoved her off the balcony,” Clayton-Beals said the day her daughter died.

The police oversight agency, known as the SIU, has closed its investigation into her death and cleared the officers. The Fifth Estate asked the SIU for comment but has not heard back.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, SIU director Joseph Martino said he concluded there were no reasonable grounds to believe any of the five officers who were in or around the apartment had committed a criminal offence.

In a video statement, Martino said the SIU has notified the family and the police officers.

Korchinski-Paquet’s death triggered large anti-police protests across the country, with thousands taking to the streets demanding justice for Korchinski-Paquet.

March racism queens park-Milenio Stadium-GTA
Some thousands of people marched along downtown Toronto streets, calling for justice for Korchinski-Paquet. (Michael Charles Cole/CBC)

Her death came just two days after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, with that timing connecting her death with the worldwide movement against police brutality.

“It was unbelievable when I saw the huge crowds and everyone walking peacefully together in the midst of COVID, in the midst of George Floyd,” the family’s lawyer, Knia Singh, told The Fifth Estate before the investigation’s conclusion.

“It simply means that her death cannot go unanswered.”

Family’s lawyers investigate

The family hired a team of lawyers, including former SIU director Howard Morton, who conducted their own investigation, including ordering a second autopsy.

At a media conference earlier this summer, Morton said that based on the evidence he had seen to that point, he supported criminal charges for the officers involved.

“Our investigation leads us to believe that there is a sound basis for criminal liability against the officers who burst into the apartment,” Morton said on July 15.

Regis Korchinski-Paquet family-Milenio Stadium
Members of Korchinski-Paquet’s family spoke to the media in July. (Martin Trainor/CBC)

Shortly after Korchinski-Paquet’s death, Toronto Police Services Chief Mark Saunders, who has since retired, took the unusual step of holding a news conference before the SIU had completed its investigation.

Saunders held the conference two days after she died, and slammed stories circulating online of her being pushed to her death as “lies” spread by “opportunists.”

He emphasized that police are legally forbidden from speaking about cases that were the subject of probes by the Special Investigations Unit, yet the chief proceeded to speak about the case anyway.

Saunders told the news conference that three 911 calls for an assault in the apartment had been made that evening, with two of the calls saying a knife was involved.

He went on to say that weapons-related calls take the highest priority and that he hadn’t sent a mobile crisis intervention team because “there’s no way I would put a nurse in the middle of a knife fight.”

The Toronto Sun newspaper ran an article with additional details of Korchinski-Paquet’s final moments that were leaked to them from police sources.

The family had become outraged and delayed their interviews with the SIU over their concerns that a police campaign was underway to compromise the integrity of its investigation.

Family says woman yelled, ‘Mom, help’

The family’s lead counsel, Singh, said that when Toronto officers arrived on the building’s 24th floor, they were met by Regis Korchinski-Paquet, her brother and her mother.

The Korchinski family told The Fifth Estate that her mother asked the police officers to take her daughter to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health for treatment.

Regis Korchinski Paquet-memorial-Milenio Stadium-GTA
Hundreds gathered outside Korchinski-Paquet’s apartment building at 100 High Park Ave. for the memorial on July 25. (Talia Ricci/CBC)

 

Shortly after, Korchinski-Paquet entered her apartment to use the washroom. She was followed by several police officers.

Minutes later, her family claims they heard her yell, “Mom, help. Mom, help. Mom, help,” three times.

When family members tried to enter the apartment, they said an officer prevented them from entering.

They learned shortly after that Korchinski-Paquet had fallen from the balcony to her death.

CBC

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CBC

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