Toddler falls to death from apartment, sends shockwaves through community

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (KCTV) - A three-year-old boy died after falling from his 8th-floor apartment. This happened just before 10 a.m. at the Independence Towers Apartments.

According to police, three people called 911 saying it happened in the back of the complex-- nine stories high.

The boy was rushed to the hospital – fighting for his life. He suffered major injuries, including severe trauma to his head, broken bones, and internal bleeding.

He died at 12:46 p.m. at Children’s Mercy Hospital. Kelly Rupert, spokeswoman for the Independence Police Department, said this an ongoing death investigation and one that has left an impact on everyone.

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“It hits harder when it’s children,” Rupert said. “Especially for many of us who have kids, nieces and nephews, and grandkids. At some point, you can relate to having someone in your family about that age.” Rupert said in the last three years, they’ve responded to 747 calls for service in that apartment complex.

Eric Michel with the Independence Fire Department said the situation is frustrating.

“We come here a lot,” Michel said. “A lot of times when we come here it’s for automatic alarms, false alarms, they’ve had multiple problems with their alarm system. We come here often for medical calls regarding all sorts of things.”

Michel said there’s been a lot of turnovers within management.

“This is a building that changes hands often,” Michel said. “It seems like when the fire department, or any other city department, starts to make headway with improvements and getting the building to meet code, that ownership changes hands, and we have to start over at square one again.”

Residents and witnesses told KCTV5 there are a lot of issues inside, including no air conditioning.

“It’s heartbreaking, there’s no telling what might have happened,” said CK Wilkinson, whose granddaughter lives in the complex. “The window slides left and right instead of up and down. It’s not that easy to side back and forth. But a child can do things you wouldn’t believe.”

“In all honesty, it’s not a shock,” said Dakota Ferrell. “The death is a shock, yes, but it was bound to happen.”

Ferrell, a previous tenant of Independence Towers, says he moved in late last December but quickly moved out.

“They told me in my contract that I was going to have A/C and heat,” said Ferrell. “When the Chiefs were in the playoffs, we didn’t have heat. When we didn’t have heat, they told us to buy space heaters for our apartments. They said they would reimburse us and take it off our rent. That never happened. I was also told we were going to have AC throughout the summer. We didn’t have that. I was only here for 3 1/2, 4 months. I was tired of all the maintenance problems. They promised all this stuff and they never did.”

If you looked up at the complex, you could see several open windows on Monday.

“It’s normal,” said Ferrell. “It’s normal to have your window open this time of the year because it’s hot and there’s no A/C.”

Ferrell says it was one of multiple problems he and other tenants experienced.

“I had plumbing problems with my bathtub that took them nearly two months to fix,” said Ferrell. “I took matters into my own hands to try and fix the plumbing in my bathtub. I was cleaning my apartment one day and I found a needle under the stove. I was told to just throw it away.”

When Ferrell moved in, he met the family of the toddler. They became quick friends; the toddler’s mom would cook him meals because he worked odd hours and they took care of his dog. He didn’t want to discuss the incident but said it was preventable. He believes should and can be made to make Independence Towers safer for its tenants.

“Enough people voice their opinion, enough people will hear it, and something will get done,” said Ferrell.

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