A bouquet of rose is surrounded by police tape <137>at a Mississauga apartment Jan 2, 2013<137> where the body of a toddler was found. <137>by police following a disturbance Tuesday. The mother of the young girl has been arrested. (Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail)<137>Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail
The family of a Mississauga woman charged with the death of her toddler came to court to support her, but instead were left in the dark.
Teresa Amelia Williams, 24, is facing a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Evadne Williams-Scott, who was two years and nine months, and was expected to be in court in Brampton Wednesday afternoon.
She wasn't, and nobody told her mother or brother. The group of friends and family stood inside the courthouse Wednesday, with Ms. Williams' mother too upset to speak and her brother expressing frustration that the family was told to come in the afternoon only to find out Ms. Williams had appeared in the morning.
The confusion only added to an emotionally devastating 24 hours.
Police were called to a townhouse unit in Mississauga Tuesday afternoon after hearing reports of a disturbance. They found a woman on the snowy balcony, in bare feet, throwing things. She refused entry, police said, and they had to force their way in.
In the townhouse complex, Peel Regional Police Acting Inspector Randy Cowan told reporters, investigators found the lifeless body of Evadne. She was showing "obvious signs of trauma," he said Wednesday.
"The mother of the girl is in custody," the officer said. "Every homicide is tragic. Of course, a two-year-old victim is an innocent victim."
Acting Inspector Cowan said police had to use a Taser-type weapon to subdue the woman, who was hysterical and alone with the deceased. An autopsy on the body was scheduled for Wednesday, though the results may not be released.
The townhouse unit was still cordoned off Wednesday and police were canvassing the neighbourhood. A single bouquet of red roses sat at the bottom of the steps to the unit with a card attached addressed to "Little Angel."
Evadne's father, Wendell Scott, was in tears at the court Wednesday.
His pastor, Sina Osunmakinwa of the Celestial Church of Christ, said Mr. Scott hasn't seen his "Little Angel" in two years.
Ms. Williams was remanded into custody for a psychiatric assessment and is expected to appear in court Thursday afternoon.
Evadne is Peel Region's first homicide victim of 2013, police said.
Meanwhile, a 29-year-old Toronto man appeared in court briefly Wednesday, charged in the city's first homicide of 2013.
In the early hours of Tuesday, O'Marie Brooks, 22, was stabbed in the parking lot of a bar on Keele Street in the city's north end.
A few hours later, Nicholas Silvera turned himself in at 31 Division and was charged with second-degree murder.
The stabbing outside Randy's Sports Bar, at 4801 Keele St., followed an argument, police said.
With a report from Timothy Appleby
Oliver Moore