Toronto mother found not criminally responsible after infant son’s 2024 death

WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence towards a child.

A 31-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.

“He was but a small child with a life ahead … filled with hopes, dreams and aspirations,” Kelly said.

Kelly said a doctor testified the woman suffered psychotic disorders since the COVID-19 pandemic and reported feeling unwell in the week, days and hours leading up to the incident.

“She described hearing voices and experiencing low mood and disrupted sleep,” Kelly said. “Her symptoms were evident to family members, police and hospital staff.”

Woman experienced ‘bizarre behaviour, delusions’

Kelly added the woman remained hospitalized for a week after the incident, during which she continued to exhibit “thought disorganization, bizarre behaviour, delusions and perceptual disturbances.”

Kelly said the woman put her son in the garbage chute in response to command auditory hallucinations, without considering the potential ramifications.

“Although she suffered from mental illness at the time, she acknowledges that she knew throwing him down the garbage chute could kill him and that it did cause his death,” the agreed statement of facts notes.

But Kelly said the woman’s schizophrenia rendered her incapable of making rational choices or understanding her acts were morally wrong.

Mother’s charge upgraded following autopsy

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.

Infant’s father contacted police

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 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.