Two children dead after being found unconscious at Scarborough apartment; homicide unit investigating

Two young boys have died and the homicide unit is investigating after an incident at a Scarborough apartment building on Sunday night.

In an update on Monday morning, Toronto police confirmed two brothers, aged 4 and 5, passed away in hospital after being found unconscious in an apartment unit, while their mother remains in hospital with serious injuries after falling from the unit’s balcony.

Emergency crews were called to the building on Glamorgan Avenue near Kennedy and Ellesmere Roads just after 7:30 p.m. after getting reports a woman had fallen from a balcony.

When police arrived they found a 25-year-old woman on the ground outside the building in critical condition. Two young boys, aged 4 and 5, were found inside an apartment unit several floors up with no vital signs.

The children were rushed to separate hospitals where they were pronounced dead. Police say the two boys had no visible signs of trauma when they were found and they are still trying to determine the cause, calling the deaths “suspicious.”

“Autopsies for both of these young boys are not expected to occur before Wednesday,” said Toronto police Insp. Terry Browne in an update on Monday morning. “Given the circumstances and nature of this investigation, the Homicide and Missing Persons Unit has taken lead.”

Investigators have confirmed the injured woman is the mother of the two deceased boys. She remains in hospital with serious injuries and is expected to survive.

Police are still trying to determine exactly how she fell from the balcony.

“My investigative belief right now is that it likely was not accidental,” says Browne. “But that would be subject to further information once we get inside the unit. I don’t believe she was assisted in falling over the balcony.”

Police do not believe anyone else was in the unit at the time of the incident. Investigators say they have been in touch with relatives of the family who have been cooperating with the investigation.

Two neighbours and the assistant superintendent of the building tell CityNews the woman’s husband recently died of an illness and say she was grieving. They describe the deceased brothers as typical kids who were “always smiling” and full of energy.

Anyone with additional information is being asked to contact police.

With files from Shauna Hunt