Parents knew of window safety hazards for a year before toddler fell to his death: court records

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (KCTV) - An Independence couple has been accused of a felony in connection with the death of a 3-year-old boy who fell from an eight-story apartment window.

Moses Lee Bass, 30, and his girlfriend Destiny Leeann Randle, 28, were each charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced.

Court records stated that the boy had fallen out of the window about 10 a.m. on July 29. Bass, the boy’s father, told investigators he had been walking his dog outside the Independence Towers apartments about that time when he saw emergency medical crews arrive at the complex.

The boy was taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital with head trauma and broken bones, among his other injuries. He was pronounced dead that afternoon.

Bass told investigators that he and his girlfriend knew about the safety hazards of the window. In the probable cause document, Bass was alleged to have known about them since June 2023, and that he knew the children had been able to by the locks and get out of the window since December 2023.

The parents were in court on Wednesday for their first court appearance. Both Bass and Randle asked for a public defender. In court Bass told the judge he did not have a job and would not be able to afford an attorney.

The couple were visibly emotional as they stood in front of the judge.

The parents had used a blue metal pole in the window’s track and locked the window locks to keep it closed. However, Bass itted in court documents that he knew the boy could remove the bar and unlock the windows because their children had thrown toys out the window.

Randle told police she was in a bedroom in the apartment and the window that the child fell from was closed and secured.

Three children were placed in the custody of Children’s Division and taken to the Child Protection Center for forensic interviews.

The probable cause document described the following details of the apartment’s condition:

KCTV5 reached out to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s office to see if anyone else would be charged, such as the management company for the apartment complex, but they said it’s too soon to say.

The couple is due back in court on August 7th at 1.pm. Their preliminary hearing will be on August 26th at 10:30 a.m.

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