By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The Quebec Coroner and the City of Côte St. Luc are investigating after a branch of a city tree fell on the head of a 76-year-old woman at the corner of Queen Mary Road and Macdonald early Saturday afternoon.

The victim was in critical condition as of Saturday night, but later passed away. There are many older trees in the area, which borders both Hampstead and Snowdon.

Police, paramedics and firefighters responded to the scene. The SPVM does not believe the incident was criminal, and the Coroner has taken over the investigation.

The City of Côte St. Luc issued a statement, saying officials are “shocked by the tragic incident.

“Côte St. Luc EMS first responders arrived quickly on scene, and the individual was transported to hospital by Urgences-Santé. This is a shocking and rare tragedy and CSL will be conducting a full investigation to determine what happened.”

The CSL statement added that an arborist was conducting a full investigation and the city had blocked off the area until necessary pruning had taken place.

“Public safety is our highest priority. We are committed to understanding what happened and taking all appropriate measures.”

At the May 12 CSL council meeting, Mayor Mitchell Brownstein expressed condolences to the family of the victim, Ljubica Milicevic, who came to Montreal from Serbia and was the French librarian at Solomon Schechter Academy as well as an author.

“It’s a great loss to the community,” Brownstein added.

The Suburban noted that there were fairly high winds in the vicinity on Friday. As well, two years ago, in the aftermath of the 2023 ice storm, a branch fell off a tree right next to myself as I was seated on a bench in nearby Macdonald Park in Snowdon. n