Toronto police say two young children have died after they were found with no vital signs in an apartment building in Scarborough on Sunday night. Their mother is in hospital undergoing surgery after falling from a balcony.
Police said at around 7:30 p.m., they received multiple 911 calls about a 25-year-old woman who had apparently fallen from a balcony on Glamorgan Avenue, near Kennedy and Ellesmere roads.
Insp. Terry Browne from the force’s homicide unit told reporters in an update on Monday that officers had to break down the apartment door where they found two boys, ages five and four, who had no obvious signs of trauma to their bodies but were unconscious.
The boys were initially rushed to hospital in critical condition but Browne confirmed that the two boys, who were brothers, had died.
Browne said the woman, who was found on the ground outside of the apartment, was the boys’ mother.
An autopsy will be performed in the coming days to determine how the boys died and he could not comment on how the children died as there were no obvious signs of trauma on them.
The investigation is being treated as “two suspicious deaths,” Browne said until the autopsy is performed.
Browne could not confirm if the woman’s fall was accidental or not.
“That is to be determined,” Browne said. “My investigative belief, right now, is that it was likely not accidental.”
“Early on, I don’t believe at this stage that she was assisted in falling over the balcony,” Browne continued. “I don’t know what her motive was when that occurred but certainly I have no reason to think that someone was with her at the time she fell.”
Several neighbours described the boys and their parents as a “happy family” who were well-known around the building.
Jay Bonsol, an assistant super at the building, told Global News the family used to wave at him and say hello.
“Adorable kids,” he said, “who like to wave.”
Recently, however, he said he had learned the woman’s husband had died.
Steve Rafferty, a neighbour in the building, said he knew the woman’s husband well and the pair used to discuss cars together. He said he was told the husband had died on Dec. 1. after a battle with cancer.
“She was obviously very distraught,” he said of the woman.
The mother started a GoFundMe after her husband’s death in which she said she found herself in “the challenging role of being single parent” to two “rambunctious boys that will miss their dad a lot.”
Global News also learned the woman lived in a sixth-floor apartment.
The GoFundMe identified the mother as Vanessa Collias and her late husband as Costa, who Global News has confirmed was called Constantine.
The two young boys were called Yiannis and Mimi.
Browne said the woman’s injuries are serious but she is in stable condition as of Monday morning and is going to need surgery. He also said based on her injuries he “suspects” that “she is likely going to survive.”
Police have been in touch with relatives of the boys and the woman and they have been cooperative “in providing a narrative with regards to this family dynamic,” Browne said.
He also said police have information that the boys appeared “healthy and well” earlier that day and some hours prior to police arrival.
— with files from Global News’ Isaac Callan
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