“Chair Girl” spared jail, gets probation, fine and community service
Marcella Zoia made international news for tossing a chair off a 45th-storey balcony in Toronto
The woman who made international headlines for a videotaped chair toss from a 45th-storey balcony in Toronto will not spend time behind bars.
A judge on Tuesday sentenced Marcella Zoia to probation for two years, 150 hours of community service and a $2,000 fine.
Zoia was 19 at the time of the Feburary 2019 incident. The chair nearly landed on the Gardner Expressway and came close to striking a woman with a child in a stroller.
The prosecution wanted a six-month sentence, but Justice Mara Greene said “I cannot find that she intended to hurt anyone when she threw that chair.”
The judge rejected the request made by the defence for a suspended sentence and said that Zoia was clearly playing for the cameras.
Zoia had pleaded guilty to mischief endangering life.
Toronto police asked the public to help identify Zoia after the video hit social media, but she eventually turned herself in.
Greene said she considered a number of factors in the sentencing including Zoia’s age, her potential for rehabilitation and the fact nobody was injured.
During the trial, court heart Zoia had been drinking the night before and was still drunk when she threw the chair off the balcony the next morning.
Zoia had previously apologized in court for her actions and said what she had done was very immature and a stupid mistake.
