A 27-year-old woman’s death in a house fire in Dufferin Grove this week has been deemed a homicide, and the person responsible was the man she was in a relationship with who also died from the blaze, Toronto police say.
Jessica Perez Ocampo and Roberto Mendez were pulled from the home’s basement at Rusholme Road, where a fire broke out shortly after midnight on Wednesday.
Ocampo was pronounced dead at the scene, while Mendez was transported to the hospital in critical condition. Police said on Friday that Mendez later died from his injuries.
Det. Sgt. Mike Taylor would not disclose Ocampo’s cause of death but said she sustained “some trauma” to her body.
“It is believed that Roberto is responsible for the death of Jessica Perez Ocampo,” Taylor said. “Again, it’s very early on in this investigation, but what I wanted to say is that this is not a random act. This was an isolated incident, and we are continuing to investigate that.”
Taylor said Mendez and Ocampo were in a relationship.
More details to come.