Regis Korchinski-Paquet, an Afro-Indigenous woman aged 29, faced breathing difficulties and described a struggle within her family during a series of frantic 911 calls before her fatal fall from a 24th-floor balcony while police were present in her home, as revealed in a coroner’s inquest on Thursday.
The inquest showcased snippets of Korchinski-Paquet’s final moments as jurors viewed a video compilation combining recordings of her five 911 calls and two police microphones with CCTV footage from the hallway outside her residence and police cruiser video from May 27, 2020.
Multiple 911 calls made that late afternoon, three of them by Korchinski-Paquet herself, led to the arrival of six police officers and two paramedics at the west Toronto building in quick succession.
Korchinski-Paquet’s mother, Claudette Beals, initiated the first call at 5:13 p.m., urgently requesting police assistance due to a physical altercation between her son and daughter. Shouts could be heard in the background as Beals sought help in the hallway.
During the call, Beals, in a conversation overlapping with others, sought help from a neighbor, informed her children of the impending police arrival, and eventually explained to the operator about the sibling argument that escalated into a physical confrontation.
Meanwhile, at 5:15 p.m., Korchinski-Paquet made her initial distress call to 911, indicating she was under attack and in need of immediate police intervention, emphasizing her struggle to breathe.
Subsequent calls at 5:22 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. detailed how Korchinski-Paquet was attacked by her brother and mother following a dispute over the TV volume, with mentions of knives being involved. She expressed losing control of her actions during the altercation.
Korchinski-Paquet, who mentioned her epilepsy and recent seizure, appeared agitated and distressed in the security footage while communicating with the operator about the ongoing conflict.
Her brother, Reece Korchinski, placed a 911 call at 5:17 p.m., describing the escalating situation and emphasizing his sister’s medical condition, noting her recent seizures and emotional state.
An agreed narrative presented at the inquest highlighted Korchinski-Paquet’s history of postictal delirium and psychosis after seizures, with a neurologist testifying to her distress and confusion in the recordings.
The inquest also revealed the sequence of events leading to Korchinski-Paquet’s fall from the balcony, which occurred amid intense interactions between responders, family members, and the distressed woman.
The tragic incident involving Korchinski-Paquet stirred emotions within her family and the community, prompting widespread protests over her death and police conduct.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit concluded that Toronto police were not at fault in Korchinski-Paquet’s demise, attributing the incident to her attempt to move between balconies.
The ongoing inquest aims to explore how authorities handle cases involving epilepsy and how information about the condition is communicated to emergency responders, with further testimonies scheduled for the coming days.