WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence towards a child.
A 30-year-old woman has been found not criminally responsible for the 2024 death of her infant son in midtown Toronto.
The mother, who was originally charged with second-degree murder in connection with the case, listened to the verdict in a Toronto courtroom Wednesday after a joint submission from the Crown and defence was brought forward due to mental health concerns.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly told the court the woman had symptoms of schizophrenia and could not appreciate that what she was doing was morally wrong.
An agreed statement of facts in the case outlined how the Toronto woman threw her four-month-old child — who Kelly called loving and helpless — down a garbage chute in the building.
Police first reported the boy had died back in November of 2024. At the time investigators said a family member reported the baby was missing in the Marlee Avenue and Roselawn Avenue area around 11:24 a.m. on Nov. 20.
Officers found the infant in the basement of the residential building. The boy was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead, Toronto police said at the time.
The mother was originally charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life, but that charge was upgraded to second-degree murder in 2024.
According to the statement of facts, the boy was born in July 2024. He lived with his mother and father in a unit on the eighth-floor of the midtown highrise.
On the morning of Nov. 20, the child’s father left the residence to run errands, leaving the baby with his mother. Hours later, the mother carried him to the garbage room on the eighth floor and intentionally threw him down the garbage chute, court documents say.
She then climbed or threw herself down the chute, causing abrasions to her arms and back.
The chute led to the garbage compactor in the basement of the building, according to the agreed statement of facts.
The infant’s father came home from errands some time later, after he called the mother and was told conflicting information about the child’s whereabouts.
Upon arriving, he was told by the mother that she did not know where the baby was but believed he was in the garbage chute, according to the statement.
The father attended the basement garbage room and found some of the baby’s items. He then contacted Toronto police.
According to the statement, officers located the infant inside a garbage dumpster without vital signs.
An autopsy on Nov. 22 revealed the child died of blunt impact injuries.
