Screams from a house within spitting distance of Christine Green’s bedroom window ripped her from her sleep yesterday morning.
Though unsettled, the 42-year-old mother wasn’t overly shaken. Gunshots and cries of violence are the soundtrack to her Alberta Avenue neighbourhood, she said.
“Screaming isn’t uncommon here —you hear it every day,” she said, standing steps away from the police-taped stucco bungalow where a body was found shortly before 6 a.m. “This area is full of prostitutes and drug dealers.”
At least one woman and two men were heard shouting from the deteriorating home at 11914 – 81 St., which had sat vacant for months until new tenants moved in two days earlier, she said.
Residents peered from windows on the street lined with low-rent walk-up apartments and deteriorating homes yesterday morning. The body was carried out shortly after officers arrived.
“I can’t wait to get out of this neighbourhood. I’ve had people jumping on my balcony trying to get in and come through my front door,” Green said, adding she has lived in the area for eight months. “It’s bad.
People say it’s cleaning up — but it’s not. It’s getting worse.”
Another neighbour described the landlord of the house as a “nice guy” who lived in the home for 50 years before new tenants moved in, but agreed that the street is overrun by unsavoury characters.
Police have yet to rule the death as a homicide.
“We want to make sure that everyone in the family knows,” said Staff Sgt. Bill Spinks.
“We’ll give out more information when we can.”
