Parents sue after 3-year-old falls 9 stories to his death in Independence
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (KCTV) - The parents of an Independence child who fell out of a window and to his death file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Destiny Randle and Moses Bass filed the lawsuit against two window companies and four companies that owned, or managed, Independence Towers during the time the family lived in the building.
Three-year-old Tidus Bass fell nine stories from his bedroom window at Independence Towers in July 2024.
Emergency crews arrived and found Tidus suffering from numerous fractures, respiratory failure and a pulmonary contusion, according to the lawsuit. The 3-year-old died from his injuries at the hospital.
LAWSUIT ALLEGES HISTORY OF ISSUES
The lawsuit claims Tidus was able to open the window by himself because it only had a lock and did not have other basic safety features.
It goes on to list other concerns about the living conditions in the apartment that Randle and Bass said they reported to the property managers. Some of those complaints included:
- Windows in the master bedroom lacked screens, window screen in another bedroom was torn
- Defendants 728 N Jennings, FTW, and Tango Property Management failed to make any repairs to windows
- Apartment did not have sanitary living conditions because:
- there was rampant mold growth
- apartment had bedbugs
- there was a rodent and pest infestation
- severe deterioration of walls, ceilings, and floors
Randle and Bass said they made multiple complaints to the conditions in the apartment, according to the wrongful death lawsuit.
Other tenants living in the building have said they also complained to management about the conditions inside the building.
The property managers are also accused of failing to provide hot water, heating and air conditioning.
Randle and Bass list the lack of air conditioning in their apartment as the reason Tidus opened the window on the morning he fell from the window. According to the lawsuit, the couple said Tidus was able to easily open the window because of the lack of “adequate locking mechanisms.”
Tidus’ parents are asking for a jury trial and a judgement in excess of $25,000.
PARENTS CHARGED
Less than a month after Tidus died, a grand jury indicted Moses Bass and Destiny Randle in the case. Each parent is charged with one count of first-degree child endangerment resulting in death.
According to the indictment, Bass and Randle failed to supervise the child in a eighth-floor apartment at Independence Towers. The apartment contained a window with a damaged screen that was able to be opened and the child could access.
Randle, the boy’s mother, told police she was in a bedroom in the apartment and the window that the child fell from was closed and secured.
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.
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 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.
If convicted Moses and Randle each face 10 years to life in prison.
Moses and Randle are each scheduled to be in court later this month. Each parent faces 10 years to life in prison if convicted.
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