Funeral for Regis Korchinski-Paquet set to take place in Toronto today

As the family of Regis Korchinski-Paquet awaits an SIU report about what exactly happened on the late May evening she fell to her death from a 24th-floor balcony in High Park, a funeral for the 29-year-old woman will be held in Toronto today.

The viewing and service will start at 1 p.m. and will be private, for immediate family only, but will be shared online via a video link for all of those who have come to know the Afro-Indigenous woman's story and rally for justice in her case and more transparency in such incidents involving police.

A public memorial is also slated to be held at a later date, according to the family's legal representation.

i have had the police called on me to "check in on my wellbeing" and it made things so much worse. i only walked away uninjured by merit of being a white native. even with the best of intents calling the police is often a death sentence to brown and black mentally ill people

— lidh (@physicslesbian) June 5, 2020

Korchinski-Paquet's death is one of many in recent memory that have ignited calls to fight systemic racism in policing and in society at large, and also to defund police and divert funds instead to alternative frontline workers who may be better trained and equipped to handle situations like mental health crises.

The young woman's mother and brother had called authorities to help defuse a domestic episode and take her to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, leading them to wonder, as their lawyer stated, "How can a call for assistance turn into a loss of life?"

Her family remembers her as passionate gymnast, dancer and singer  who loved her family immensely and had a "beautiful, infectious smile and unique laugh" that "will be missed, and her absence felt in our hearts forever."

The investigation into her death, conducted by police watchdog the Special Investigations Unit, is ongoing. Meanwhile, the funeral for Chantel Moore, the 26-year-old Indigenous woman who was shot and killed by police in her New Brunswick home last week during a wellness check, is also happening today.