Inquest into death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet on hold for investigation: coroner

A coroner's inquest into the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a Toronto woman who fell from a 24th-floor balcony while police were present in her home, has been indefinitely postponed. The inquest was set to conclude its final hearing on Thursday when Dr. David Cameron, the presiding coroner, announced the suspension. He cited the need to conduct an "unanticipated investigation" before proceeding.

The inquest had finished hearing evidence on Wednesday and was scheduled to reconvene Thursday afternoon for closing remarks and recommendations from lawyers representing about a dozen parties involved. Korchinski-Paquet, 29, died on May 27, 2020, after police were called to her west-end apartment following a reported fight involving knives.

She had experienced two seizures earlier that day, and her mother, Claudette Beals, made a new allegation against the police, alleging that officers pushed her daughter toward the balcony, causing her death. However, this allegation was later dismissed by the Special Investigations Unit, Ontario's police watchdog agency, which found she died while trying to move from her balcony to the one next door.

The inquest has primarily focused on Korchinski-Paquet's history of epilepsy-related seizures and education around postictal delirium, a mental state that can occur after seizures.