Man, 29, arrested after woman found dead in her Rexdale apartment

Investigators say a 29-year-old man has been arrested and charged in relation to the brutal sexual assault and murder of a mother of three in a Rexdale apartment tower last January.

Toronto Police say that at 4:45 a.m. on Jan. 30, they were called to an apartment building at 121 Kendleton Drive for a report of a sudden death.

Police said at the time that acquaintances of Sylvia Consuelo, 34, came to her unit in the building to socialize with her when they found her dead body.

Investigators said earlier this year that an autopsy revealed Consuelo was violently sexually assaulted for an hour before she was suffocated to death.

Security footage from the apartment building released in February showed a man clad in a black leather jacket and bandana calmly walking through the hallways to and from her unit at times consistent with when Consuelo was killed.

Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga said in February that the suspect gained entry to Consuelo’s building only by entering a nearby building that was connected to hers with an underground tunnel.

Consuelo suffered from mental health issues and police say she was also addicted to drugs. Though she was a mother to three children, she lived alone and supported herself by engaging in prostitution.

Investigators have not commented on the nature of the relationship between the victim and the suspect.

On Thursday, a suspect identified as Najib Amin of Toronto was taken into custody.

He is charged with one count of first-degree murder.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Friday morning at 2201 Eglinton Avenue West.