Regis Korchiniski-Paquet
Birth date:
October 4, 1990
Death date:
May 27, 2020
Age at Death:
29
About
Ms. Korchiniski-Paquet was loved by her family who reported she started every day by texting her siblings " Good Morning, I love you!" She was an avid gymnast since childhood, and had a passion for dancing, music, and singing. She held many jobs after high school, including working for a computer security company and at a deli. She was diagnosed with epilepsy five years prior to her death. Epilepsy made it difficult to hold a job because of her seizures and the effects (drowsiness, confusion, migraine, and other disorienting symptoms). On several occasions she experienced psychiatric crises that required hospital visits. The family reported she had a seizure the day of her death, prior to police arrival.
Ms. Korchiniski-Paquet died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada of a "suicide." Police arrived at her home in response to multiple 911 calls from her, her mother, and her brother, for a domestic disturbance. After policed arrived, Ms. Korchinski-Paquet walked alone onto her home balcony, blocked the door to prevent police from following her onto the balcony and fell 24 stories to her death. A witness heard her mother tell police she jumped, but her mother stated her daughter would not have killed herself. Her family accused the Toronto Police of having played a role in her death, which led to a investigation by the special investigative unit (SIU). The investigation found it had cleared all police officers of wrongdoing and found no evidence of police involvement in her death. The death inspired a number of protests in Canada against police involvement in her death and other issues of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism (she was Indigenous). These protests occurred at the same time as the George Floyd protests.
Was justice served?
Unclear. The family continued their own private investigation after the SIU determined police were not involved in her death ; on March 30, 2021, the Office of the Independent Police Review Director announced it had opened a new investigation on the police's conduct.