Second Child Falls To Death From Window This Week

Yesterday, a toddler fell from a second-floor window in a Brooklyn home; he later died from his injuries. According to the Daily News, 3-year-old "Devin Joseph Jr. landed in a cement alleyway after plunging out the window of a three-story home on Westminster Rd. where his parents are temporarily living." The family was living with friends because their home went into foreclosure. A witness said a crowd gathered by the alleyway, "Everybody was just in hysteria. It was really sad," and the News reports, "A safety guard could be seen in the window." And on Monday, a 1-year-old fell to his death from a second-story Flatbush home's window; WABC 7 says, "According to investigators, Marcus Olivier's mother had just given him a bath and went to get some clothes. He apparently broke through the blinds and fell out the window, hitting the concrete driveway." Mayor Bloomberg said, "The law requires guards if you have children and it also requires the managers to ask every year whether or not you need them. If you have a kid, please don't take any risks, we don't need tragedies like this." But the law only requires apartment buildings to have them—not private homes.

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By Jen Chung in News on August 12, 2009 8:12 AM

Comments [rss]

Neil Epstein

does "safety guard" != "window guard" ? Cause if they did have a saftey/window guard as evident by the eyewitness reports, I wonder if the flaw is either in the guard itself or the failure to install it properly.

As a father with two with window guards in all our windows, it breaks my heart to hear this when it's evident that they did take some proper precautions (to what level, dunno)

Spirit of 76

Window guards are definitely a good idea for homes with children. Likewise pool alarms.

NannyState

This is one of the hardest stories I've read in a while. To lose one's home and then a child. Devastating.

ides_of_march

This is heartbreaking. That poor kid.

EricRoberts

You're required by law to take the door off of a refrigerator when disposing of it.

Steven

Windows don't have screens on them?

jza1218

How the hell does a one year old reach a window?

UrbanCowgirl

On a somewhat related note, has anyone ever noticed the kids/babies put out to play in the air-conditioner grates in the Hasidic areas in South Williamsburg? If not, look up next time you're walking by. You'll see little fat legs hanging down...and some of these are on SUPER high floors. It's always freaked me out.

Tpooh2

My condolences to the family. How sad.

whitecastlerock

Marcus Olivier's mother had just given him a bath and went to get some clothes. Where were these clothes, in New Jersey? That poor child...

ChampionOfTheSun

Kids are fast. All you have to do is turn your back, and they're on the move. If you have windows they can get to, better keep them locked.

silver

Someone is going to need Ritalin in a few years, and then be in jail in a decade if he can't control his impulses. At first they make a crying screaming fit for candy, next you know they are using a gun for candy. One old fashioned beating by daddy or mommy and the kid will be as obedient as a marine enlisted man.

Trilby16

Sad that people need to be reminded of common sense precautions by tragedy like this. There are the falls from windows, the discarded refrigerator-tombs, kids left in sizzling cars, kids left in running cars that get stolen, etc.-- you have a new crop of parents coming up all the time and they need to learn.

Snoopy

I don't believe that refrigerators are that much of a problem anymore since most are using magnetic catches. It's pretty hard to get locked in unless of course they are playing hide and seek and the child suffocates due to not wanting to show themselves.

JenChungsBaby

We have them on windows that slide open sideways and they totally suck because they only let you open the window around four inches. So I took them out and dangled my three-year-old out the window by his feet to show him that he should never do that. So far so good.