Warning: This story deals with disturbing subject matter, including suicide, that may upset and trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.
Vanessa Collias’ sobbed in a Toronto courtroom Monday as she read a lengthy statement about why she killed her two young sons almost two years ago.
“I want to start off by apologizing to everyone my actions hurt and to the people I have let down,” said Collias through tears, appearing via video from the South West Detention Centre in Windsor.
Court heard the 27-year-old was left a paraplegic as a result of a failed suicide attempt on the night she murdered her sons, five-year-old Yiannis Collias and four-year-old Dimitri Collias.
“A part of me wonders why I never said I needed help. I stand in front of you a broken person. I wonder if I’m damaged beyond repair because I feel life has shattered my hopes and dreams. To my babies, I love you more than anything, Thank you for showing me what true love is,” she said, tears running down her face.
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Collias’ pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, but was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Assistant Crown attorney Adriana Moser told Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell the Crown would accept the pleas to second-degree murder despite the fact the case has elements of first degree, because a forensic psychiatrist found Collias was suffering from a health condition at the time.
Collias admitted she suffocated her sons while singing, “You Are My Sunshine,” before attempting to take her own life, saying she wanted to be reunited with her husband, the boys’ father, who had recently died.
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According to an agreed statement of facts read out in court, on Dec. 10, 2023, officers from 41 Division of the Toronto Police Service responded to an “unknown trouble” radio call at 5 Glamorgan Ave. near Kennedy and Ellesmere Roads.
Upon arrival, Collias was found lying on the grass outside the apartment building. Collias was being attended to by paramedics and firefighters who asked what had occurred. In response, she stated that she had fallen from her apartment, unit 611.
When police officers proceeded to unit 611, they learned from neighbours that two young boys resided inside. The two officers could hear a children’s television program playing from inside the unit, but no other sounds.
After receiving authorization to breach the door, the officers entered apartment 611 where they discovered two young boys lying side-by-side in front of the television. The boys were lying face up, with their heads resting on a long red pillow and their feet oriented towards the doorway. Officers tried to shake the boys, but they were without vital signs and unresponsive.
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Despite attempting life-saving efforts, both children could not be revived and were pronounced dead on scene.
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Police also found two handwritten notes taped to the TV. One was marked “For Police” and another listing family phone numbers.
Nearby were the two boys’ birth certificates, two sets of folded clothing, a photo of their deceased father, and a cross placed beside the boys’ bodies.
“The letter to police referenced the death of Ms. Collias’ husband, expressed a desire that she and her sons be reunited with him, and contained apologies and pleas for forgiveness directed towards family members for what she had done,” Moser told court.
Once in the bathroom, officers observed evidence of a failed hanging attempt. The shower rod had been detached from the wall and a belt was hanging from the shower. On the outdoor balcony, a stool was positioned against the railing consistent with where Collias’ was located on the ground.
A post-mortem examination determined that Yiannis and Dimitri Collias were healthy and well-nourished at the time of their deaths. There were also no signs of physical abuse and no consequential external injuries.
A psychiatric assessment dated May 16, 2025, conduct by Dr. Sumeeta Chatterjee, a forensic psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) reported that Collias’ provided a detailed account of the events leading to her children’s deaths.
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“Following the sudden death of her husband, Costa, on December 1, 2023, Ms. Collias’ described feeling “broken, absolutely alone, unable to conceive of continuing life without him and wanted all of them to be reunited in heaven,” Moser said.
According to the facts, Collias acknowledged that she wrote notes to the police and her family members, laid out her sons’ funeral clothing and placed her husband’s photograph and a candle beside them before ultimately killing her sons.
Collias recounted that she suffocated each of her sons in turn by holding them close with her hand over their mouth and nose, while softly singing “You Are My Sunshine” to them.
She admitted after placing Yiannis on the red pillow in the living room, she did the same with Dimitri, positioning him beside his brother.
Collias then said she attempted to end her own life: first by suffocation, then by cutting her wrist and finally by attempting to hang herself in the shower. When these methods failed, Collias’ told the psychiatrist she jumped from the balcony, sustaining catastrophic injuries that left her a paraplegic.
Collias, whom the psychiatrist found was not a candidate for the Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) defence, expressed to Dr. Chatterjee that she understood that society may view her actions as both morally and legally wrong.
Collias told the psychiatrist that she hopes others would understand that her intent was “to save her sons and be with her husband so they could all be together.”
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“She stated that her biggest regret was not being successful in her own suicide attempt to achieve this goal,” Moser added.
The Crown and defence jointly agreed a life sentence with a parole ineligibility period of 18 years would be appropriate to which Justice Forestell agreed.
Ingrid Grant, Collias’ lawyer, told court that Collias was in no way motivated by malice or a lack of love for her children.
“Everyone who was been asked has said she loved her children very much and her husband. Once he passed away, he was ill and then the actual decline and death was sudden and she saw no way forward and she saw a way out,” Grant explained.
Collias’ husband was 72 at the time of his death, what Grant called an unconventional relationship.
“As she gets older, she may see elements of her relationship differently. It was her place of safety. Her birth family is supportive of her, but she saw them as people who could not protect her nor could children’s aid protect her so she saw no way for her children to be protected without her and she saw no way to go on without her husband,” Grant told court.
Grant told court of a mental disorder, known as “adjustment disorder,” which she was diagnosed with after the death of her husband. Grant said adjustment disorder was at play, which left Collias reacting to her background of being abused and losing her place of safety and stability with her husband.
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“Those combined are what led us here,” Grant concluded.
“I’ve been able to pretend on the outside things were okay, even if I’m not okay,” Collias told court before being sent away to begin serving her sentence.
“Between August and December 2023, I was using those coping mechanisms to deal with my ailing husband whose health was declining. I became his round-the-clock caregiver. I was wearing all the hats at home. I was flooded with conflicting emotions and thoughts. This weighed on me heavily due to the fact of dealing with past trauma. I was exhausted, running on fumes, trying to be okay,” Collias added.
“On the night of December 10th, I hit a wall, I couldn’t push no more. Me, selfishly, not wanted to be alive led me down a dead-end road where I had no options. In my life, those who protect you did the worst thing resulting in me having major trust issues. These issues left me feeling that leaving my boys behind, I would be gambling with their safety which is something I never wanted to do.”
“You guys will forever be my favourite part of me. I’m so grateful I got to be your mom. The hardest thing I will ever have to do is to be okay being here without you,” Collias concluded.
Forestell said it was mitigating that Collias is a youthful first-time offender who had a very unstable childhood marked by abuse.
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Forestell told court since being incarcerated, Collias has been trying to get her high school diploma and has been working in the library.
The judge also acknowledged that Collias faces physical challenges because of her injuries which left her a paraplegic and has consistently taken responsibility for what she did.
For anyone experiencing a mental health crisis, the suicide hotline is available at 9-88.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help.
For a directory of support services in your area, visit suicideprevention.ca/resources/#support-services