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A day after Dr. Mary Ann Magtoto died from falling on the second floor atrium inside the Shangri-la Plaza mall on July 1, police said she committed suicide, reports ABS-CBNNews.com. A British national claimed in his sworn statement that he saw Magtoto climb the escalator's railing and jump from the sixth floor, according to Mandaluyong City Police Deputy Chief, Superintendent Roseller Sta. Maria.
An alleged eyewitness, Ricky Cañeda, told Saksi in an interview aired July 1 that Magtoto did not scream nor did she use her hands to break her fall. However, Cañeda said he clearly saw her fall from the fifth floor, not the sixth.
Magtoto's cousin, who declined to show his face on cam, told Saksi that Magtoto repeatedly went up and down the escalators, seemingly in deep thought, before her fall. He claimed he saw Magtoto's behavior on the CCTV footage shown to him by the mall representatives.
Twitter was abuzz about the incident on July 1. Twitter user NeilParas posted a picture of the scene, with the dead woman lying facedown on the mall's floor. Another Twitterer, maitecaliente, posted a photo of Magtoto surrounded by bystanders.
TV host Drew Arellano, who was at Shangri-la Plaza at the time, Tweeted, "I'm on the 6th flr and people around me heard a loud smack... They took the body away. They covered the blood on the floor with white towels but red/brown color still visible."
