The fatal overdose of a 28-year-old man, who left a downtown drop-in centre he frequented after being told there was no room for him to sleep, has left his friends and community reeling and searching for answers.

The man, whom the Star is not identifying at this time without his family’s permission, was often a guest of the St. Felix Centre, a neighbourhood hub on Augusta Ave. where men and women can shower, enjoy meals, receive counselling and use computers.

In the winter, St. Felix also acts as a 24-7 drop-in centre.

Though the 34 mats for sleeping and 16 additional spaces were full Wednesday night, staff welcomed the man, provided him with two bowls of soup and told him about a temporary warming centre, where he should have been able to find a space to lie down and sleep.

But shortly after he left St. Felix, about 20 minutes after he was last seen by his friends, he was found without vital signs in the washroom of a KFC restaurant less than a city block away, at Queen St. W.

A worker from St. Felix, who happened to be on break, found him. Emergency services were called at 9:40 p.m., but he died in hospital.

“Our tremendous front-line staff allowed him access to the dining hall where he had food, but was told they didn’t have space for him,” said local Councillor Joe Cressy, who told the Star about the circumstances leading up to the man’s death and how he was found.

“I think this is a painful, real example of a real life and a real person who used our system and didn’t get the full level of supports that they needed because the resources weren’t there,” he said.

Staff at St. Felix would not comment.

Police reported Thursday that the heroin the young man had consumed was believed to be laced with the more powerful drug fentanyl, which has been connected to a surge of deaths among intravenous drug users.

A spokesperson from the mayor’s office described the death as a “tragic circumstance” and said that Mayor John Tory has been “very vocal about the dangers of fentanyl” and working to reduce the impact of the deadly drug.

“City staff are investigating, and we will be asking for a full report once all the facts are known,” the spokesperson said.

On Friday, two men stood in a doorway at St. Felix and shared a few thoughts about a young man they described as quiet and decent person whose death sent shock waves through their community. They declined to give their names.

“He kept to himself a lot, but at the same time he would call one or two individuals over for a conversation . . . he reached out to some people,” one man told the Star.

The other, who knew the young man well, said he saw him inside the drop-in just 20 minutes before the fatal overdose.

He was outside the restaurant when the ambulance took his friend away. The reaction, back at St. Felix he said, was shock and almost resulted in a fight between him and a man who couldn’t absorb what had happened.

“He couldn’t believe it.”

The night the young man died he was given information about a temporary warming facility at St. Lawrence Community Recreation Centre, but declined the referral, city staff said. People are invited in from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. and can sleep on mats or quietly pass the time.

That same evening, city council was hashing out the final points of a budget that included cuts to front-line shelter workers, or a decision not to replace 10 people once they resign or retire. Those positions include providing medical care and helping people find housing.

Community leaders and advocates had decried the lack of shelter beds and emergency spaces, calling any potential cuts to services a matter of life and death.

Cressy’s motion to restore the positions was defeated 19-25.

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A cheat sheet, which a source confirmed was distributed by the mayor’s office telling allied councillors how to vote on various budget issues, confirms the mayor lobbied councillors to support the cuts.

The mayor’s spokesperson, in response, said that the 2017 budget included money for new shelter beds and the city has extended the hours of its cold weather drop-ins and has funded additional hotel beds to get people off the streets.

“This death is tragic, but it is unrelated to this week’s budget debate,” the spokesperson said.