OPA-LOCKA, FLA. (WSVN) – Rescue crews took a 2-year-old boy to the hospital after, they said, he fell from a second-story window of an apartment complex in Opa-locka, Friday evening.
Opa-locka Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the scene in the area of Northwest 135th Street and 24th Avenue.
According to investigators, the windows of the apartment were open because the unit’s air conditioning was broken. The child’s mother, Ronnyce Walker, was cleaning the apartment when the victim, later identified as Kevin Wright, tumbled through the screen and down to the ground.
Speaking with 7News, Walker had harsh words for the building’s owner. “I didn’t do that to my baby! Put that on the news. George Howard is an [expletive] crook,” she said.
Surveillance cameras captured the toddler’s fall, which took place just after 5 p.m., according to officials.
“All I know is, I was in the kitchen. My son was in the back room,” said Walker. “All I know is the little boy came and got me and said, ‘Kevin fell out the window.’”
But the child survived.
Erica Griffin, a family friend who was at the apartment at the time, said the accident happened in the blink of an eye. “It was a split second, like, honestly, a split second,” she said.
The video shows four witnesses running to check on the child moments after he fell.
“My heart was beating fast,” said Griffin. “My friend fainted when she came down and saw her son … just laying on the floor.”
Paramedics airlifted the toddler to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Officials said he was alert and breathing.
“I hope he’ll be all right. He was crying when he left in the ambulance,” said Griffin.
At the hospital, the child was given a CAT scan, and it appears he did not break any bones.
Walker said her son’s bed is by the window, and she keeps it open because there is no AC inside her apartment. “You don’t want to stay in here. Trust me. It is hell,” she said.
But the building’s manager and owner both denied that claim. “That’s not true,” said Paul Embury, the building’s manager. “We have a lot of complaints in this building, because right now we’re evicting 22 of the 48 residents. Many of these residents have not paid rent for a year.”
George Howard, the building’s owner, said there are steps tenants can take when their AC is not working. “If anyone has an AC problem, all they have to do is come down to management and there are forms that they can come in and sign up, and management will attend to it immediately,” he said.
The Florida Department of Children and Families were called in to investigate the circumstances surrounding Kevin’s fall.
But the toddler’s mother said she is sure everything will be OK. “My baby’s OK. He’s OK. He’s an angel,” said Walker.
Friday night, Walker told 7News Kevin will remain at the hospital overnight for observation and will be released on Saturday.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)