New details are emerging in the tragic death of a 3-year-old boy who died Saturday after falling from the an apartment balcony on the 29th floor of a high-rise New York City building.
A preliminary investigation suggests the boy's death may have been an accident, according to findings shared by two senior law enforcement sources.
The child fell from the apartment balcony around 11 a.m., down to scaffolding around the third floor of the Taino Towers off 3rd Avenue in Harlem.
Neighbors described a harrowing scramble to try and reach the toddler, but life-saving efforts weren't successful.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Investigators spoke to the boy's parents, who said they were in the apartment's bedroom when the boy fell over the balcony. According to their statements, the sources said the parents went to go look for the boy when they couldn't hear him playing in the living room.
When the boy's mother went looking for him, she told detectives she saw netting on the balcony "flowing in the wind." The sources said she looked over the hedge and saw her baby on the scaffolding 26 floors below.
Piecing together statements and evidence gathered from the scene, investigators believe the boy walked out to the balcony and climbed on top of a chair to look over the edge when he fell.
News
An official cause of death has not been concluded. The investigation is ongoing.
