1 suspect, 3 other persons of interest sought after man falls from balcony in downtown Toronto

Last Updated April 25, 2024 10:32 pm.

Police are searching for one suspect and three persons of interest after a 38-year-old man fell from an eighth-floor balcony in downtown Toronto and was pronounced dead early Wednesday morning.

Investigators were called to a building on Dalhousie Street, near Church and Shuter streets, just before midnight on April 24 for "unknown trouble." When they arrived they found a man who had landed on some construction scaffolding in critical condition. He was taken to a trauma centre, where he was later pronounced dead.

The victim has been identified as 38-year-old Ryan Williams.

"The investigation to date reveals there was an altercation inside the deceased's apartment and the deceased fell from the balcony," revealed Det. Sgt. Henri Marsman.

While Marsman would not confirm if Williams had been pushed off the balcony, he did say the incident is being investigated as a murder.

Police are looking for one man who goes by the street name "Justice." He's described as 38 to 40 years old and five-foot-eight to five-foot nine. He was last seen wearing a black hooded jacket, beige pants and black shoes.

Police are also looking to speak with three other persons of interest described as a male, five-foot-10, last seen wearing a black jacket, gray shirt, dark gray sweatpants, and black shoes with white soles; a female, five-foot-six with a thin build and brown hair in a high bun, last seen wearing black pants with white accents on the sides, red shoes with white soles, and pulling a grocery trolley bag; and a second female, five-foot-six with a thin build and dark hair, last seen wearing a black jacket, white toque, black pants, and black shoes.

Marsman described the relationship between Williams and the suspect as "casual acquaintances", adding that the roles of the three other people in what led up to Williams' death "is still being investigated."

"We've been hearing a lot of strange things over the last couple of weeks," a resident who lives in another unit on the floor tells CityNews.

He said he's been hearing a lot of arguments, door slamming, and glass shattering from one unit, adding he heard some sort of commotion around 11:30 p.m.

Police did confirm that the apartment where the altercation occurred is where the victim's mother lives and she was home at the time of the incident, however, she was not physically harmed.

The resident tells CityNews that the woman's son had recently moved in.

He added that he doesn't feel safe living in the building.

"We caught a guy in the garbage room one day, we have heard that there have been people in the storage locker area just staying there and going back and forth between the eighth floor and the storage locker area," the resident said.

He said he called police around two weeks ago after someone was spotted in the hallway with a knife.

With files from Shauna Hunt, CityNews