Alem Shimeni

Alem Shimeni fell from the 11th floor of a tower block in Charles Street, Royston.

She fell 100ft to her death, dying instantly at 5.15pm on Monday 18 February 2019.

A man was apprehended shortly after as he tried to flee the scene, however, no charges were made. The police said that they were treating her death as suspicious.

Witnesses said that they could hear a man chanting, praying and looking out of the window.

She was photographed by witnesses shortly before she fell, hanging onto the window cill of the 11th floor flat. It was also said that she had been hanging by her hair.

One witness said, 'I could hear hysterical screaming and I went to the window and I saw the woman being held by the hair. She didn’t fall right away, because she was trying desperately to hold on to the window sill and she was scratching at the wall with her feet, trying to get a hold to keep herself from falling. I thought I should take a photo as evidence but I was really hoping she would be dragged back in by whoever was holding her hair. As I watched, she fell to the ground. She didn’t move. I can’t see how anyone could have survived that. It was terrible to watch'.

Another person that had been there and helped to capture the man that was running away said, 'I went running down the stairs, phoning 999 as I went. An African guy had come out of block 150 and had tried to run away. But he fell over a wall and he got grabbed by a concierge and a few women who were there. He broke away and I ran across and grabbed him and I was helped by a few people. We held him until the police arrived a few minutes later. There were some women there who were hysterical. They spoke the same language as the guy. He was chanting and, I think, praying, and he looked out of it. I have no idea if he was related to the woman in any way or what any of it was about'.

Alem Shimeni had been an Eritrean national and a member of a local Eritrean Orthodox Church.