An Ontario mother is reeling after her daughter’s death near High Park in Toronto on Friday and speaking out after a man was charged with second-degree murder in the case.
Tiffany Burnham told CBC Toronto she is relieved at the arrest, but haunted by the final moments of her 21-year-old daughter, Serenity Brown.
“I’m devastated. I cried all day yesterday, inconsolable,” Â Burnham said.
“It’s just so hard on me, thinking that she was hurt that bad and alone at the time. It just is hurting me a lot.”
Toronto police announced Monday that a 48-year-old Toronto man was charged Monday in connection with Brown’s death.Â
Brown was found injured in a vehicle in the area of Glenlake and High Park avenues on Friday, shortly before 6 p.m.
She died of her injuries in hospital. Police have not released any further details on the cause of her death.
“We don’t have the information as of the nature of those injuries. That will be all investigated during an autopsy,” Const. Ashley Visser said on Monday.
Police have said Brown had an interaction with a man before officers arrived, and that two were known to each other.
“It is just such a relief that they caught him,” Burnham said Monday. “I’m so grateful.”
‘A kind soul’
Burnham said her daughter was a “kind soul” who was a giving person.
“Even if she had nothing, she would still try to give. She just didn’t want nobody to go without,” Burnham said.
Brown was a ‘kind soul’ who was a giving person, according to her mother, Tiffany Burnham. (Submitted by Tiffany Burnham)
Brown was the third of eight children, her mother said, and a beautiful baby.Â
News of her death has been hard on her and her other children, she said.
“She was an awesome child. She had a very extraordinary imagination. She loved to play dress up. She loved princesses. She liked bling all her life. Everything had to be pink. She was just like a really kind-hearted little girl.”
Burnham said the family lived in London, Ont. then moved to Oneida Nation of the Thames when Brown was 10. They lived there until Brown was 18, when she moved to Toronto by herself.
“She was just infatuated with the big city and she just wanted the big city life and the lights and all the action,” she said. “She just wanted to be around more people and she wanted to see the sights and just be able to be free.”
Toronto police vehicles are parked near Glenlake and High Park avenues, near where Brown was located injured in a vehicle on Friday. (Jacob Estrin/CBC)
Her mother said Brown was battling addiction and the two spoke last in January, shortly before Brown’s birthday.
After that, the calls stopped coming. Burnham said she was worried that her daughter might have been in an abusive relationship.
“Every day, I was wondering if she was OK? Did she OD? Did she get in trouble? It was very difficult. And then when I found out what happened, oh my god, it just cut me like a knife.”
She is the city’s 30th homicide victim of the year.
Her funeral will be held on Wednesday.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police.
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