

Chris Fox, CP24.com





Toronto police have identified the 69-year-old woman who was fatally stabbed at an apartment building in the city’s Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood early Friday morning.

It happened in a fourth floor unit at a building on Thorncliffe Park Drive near Overlea Boulevard and Don Mills Road at around 12:55 a.m.

Speaking at the scene, Det. Andy Singh said that police were first dispatched to the building after some residents “heard some commotion” and decided to call 9-1-1.

He said that officers found the woman suffering from “obvious signs of trauma” upon arrival. The woman was then pronounced dead by paramedics. She was later identified by police as Toronto-resident Marite Zala.

Police said a 31-year-old man was arrested on scene. Officers have not said what the exact relationship between the suspect and the victim is but have indicated that there is some sort of family connection.

“We are very early on in the investigation but I can tell you that it was a contained incident. We believe the incident was within the family, so there is no threat to anybody in the building,” Singh told reporters at the scene.

A suspect – identified as Toronto-resident Ernest Lajos Zala – has been charged with first-degree murder. He is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.