Neighbours complained about teens using victim’s apartment before homicide

In the last couple of months before Danielle Strauss was found dead in her Ferguson Avenue North apartment, two teen boys began staying with the 38-year-old and causing problems in the building for other residents, The Spectator has confirmed.

Now police are looking for four teens who they believe were inside Strauss's apartment when she was killed early the morning of Nov. 7 - two 16-year-old boys and two 14-year-old girls.

Strauss had challenges, including serious mental-health issues, and she was vulnerable. The teen boys began spending an increasing amount of time at her apartment and were even heard calling her ma," according to a friend and neighbour.

Several sources have confirmed that there were complaints about the boys staying at Strauss's second-floor apartment at 195 Ferguson Ave. N., where she had been living since April. The teens were not tenants. The complaints included them bypassing security by using a stairwell that connects the first and second floors, and allegedly selling drugs. To some, it appeared they were taking over her apartment.

Danielle had so many goals to get better. She wanted to gain mental clarity and rid herself of her demons, get her (adult) daughter back in her life," said her friend and neighbour, who The Spectator has agreed not to name over concerns it could impact their housing. But she was almost a target of misery."

Strauss's aunt Donna Reinhart says her family loved her unconditionally and are gutted someone has stolen Danielle's light."

We will never hear her big laugh, we will never see the silly grin she gets when she gets excited, we will never get to hear I love you mom, I love you auntie, I love you daughter, I love you uncle,'" she said in an email. We will never get to hear her sing off key on our road trips to a family function."

Reinhart described her niece as a giving person who would give you her last dime.

The friend believes the boys took advantage of Strauss' kindness and that more could have been done by the building's management to address concerns, including calling police. The Spectator has confirmed police were never called as a consequence of the boys in Strauss's apartment. Instead, the last calls to her unit were for mental-health concerns in June and July.

Strauss had two sides. She could be aggressive, paranoid and often yelled inside her apartment, spurring noise complaints. She could also be childlike," had a big smile and loved to laugh. She would participate in bingo or go on outings organized for residents, they said.

More than anything, she loved her daughter.

Det. Sgt. Steve Bereziuk of the Hamilton police homicide unit said he was very limited in how much he could share about the persons of interest in the case because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

However, they are all clearly captured on video. He is confident homicide detectives will soon identify the teens and he continues to urge them to come forward to police.

Detectives have recovered high-quality video from the building that allegedly shows the teens leaving the apartment after she was killed. There is not video of what happened inside the unit. To help piece that together, police have sent numerous exhibits for forensic testing. Bereziuk has described the crime scene in the apartment as complicated."

Homicide detectives believe drugs may have been a factor, but it's too early to pinpoint whether that was a motive. Cause of death has not been released, nor is it clear whether there was one or more killers.

The 38-year-old's body was discovered in her apartment around 11 a.m. on Nov. 10 by the building's superintendent, who entered Strauss's unit for a scheduled pest-control appointment. However, police believe she was killed several days before, between 12:30 and 1 a.m. on Nov. 7. That belief is based on surveillance video.

Wesley Community Homes owns the apartment building at 195 Ferguson Ave. N. - Verrall Place - as well as some townhomes behind the building. This is not to be confused with the charitable organization, Wesley, which formerly operated the Wesley Day Centre at the same Ferguson address. Many of the tenants who now live there have subsidized rent and require assistance through programming on-site, which is run by Good Shepherd.

We extend our sincere condolences to any family or friends of this victim," said Wesley Community Homes board chair Chad Roglich. This has greatly impacted our community and we will do anything we can as an organization to make sure police ... resolve this as soon as possible."

Citing the ongoing police investigation, Roglich declined to answer any specific questions about security at the property or concerns over the boys at Strauss's apartment.

Both Wesley Community Homes and Good Shepherd said they are co-operating with police and continuously look at safety and security improvements.

It's a terrible tragedy that reverberates though an entire community," said Katherine Kalinowski, chief operating officer for Good Shepherd Centres Hamilton.

Good Shepherd has two roles at 195 Ferguson: One is managing the property and the other is providing the HOMES (housing with on-site, mobile and engagement services) program, which offers support services for tenants.

The supports are very individualized for people," Kalinowski said, adding that the focus is on supporting people who have issues with mental health and sometimes substance use. This can include everything from supporting access to health care to pursuing recreation or other informal supports.

Part of the work of property management is ensuring a safe and secure environment, including overseeing security on the property.

Kalinowski said she couldn't comment on specific complaints about Strauss's apartment before her death because of confidentiality. But she said, as property manager, Good Shepherd takes safety and security very seriously. When people bring concerns or complaints to property management, there is a duty to act on those concerns quickly, however, Good Shepherd has to act within the Residential Tenancies Act, she said.

Nicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com