I invite you to remember four-year-old Naveah, whose lifeless body was found in a dumpster beside a house under construction in downtown Toronto on May 2, 2022.
Reverend Daniel Cho and his congregation at Rosedale Presbyterian Church—the community where Naveah’s body was so callously discarded—remember. This Sunday, May 3, they will hold their fourth annual memorial service for Naveah, a child they came to know only in death.
Remember this: we do not know how Naveah died. We do not know who placed her remains in that garbage bin. The Toronto Police Service, which worked tirelessly for over a year to identify her, has not determined who was responsible. No charges have been laid. No explanation has been given. The case remains unsolved.
But we do know something about Naveah’s life. Thanks to the determined investigative journalism of reporters Jennifer Pagliaro and Wendy Gillis, we know that Naveah was a child in the care of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. We know she was a loving little girl who was autistic. We know she was taken from her mother, placed in foster care, and then returned—despite concerns from some of the workers involved and her foster parent. We know her mother faced significant struggles and did not receive the support she needed for herself or for Naveah.
Read the Toronto Star’s story, “The Invisible Girl.”
And remember: with what we know, we are left with a single, urgent question—how could this happen?
Since the government shuttered the Office of the Child Advocate in 2019, the only tool left in this province to transparently answer that question is a Coroner’s Inquest. An inquest cannot assign criminal blame. But it can uncover the truth. It can if the scope is broad enough examine the systemic failures that led to Naveah’s death. It can ensure her voice is heard to protect other children.
By law, an inquest cannot proceed until the police investigation is complete.
It has now been four years.
I call upon the Toronto Police Service to provide a public update on their investigation into Naveah’s death. I call upon them to redouble their efforts—or to close the case so that a Coroner’s Inquest can begin.
We must remember Naveah. She has not received justice. She must not remain silenced.