KANSAS CITY, MO - In a sad story out of America’s heartland, a young boy who was found dead on a Kansas City street appeared to have fallen from a downtown apartment building, authorities say.
KMBC News reports that the “young male under 12 years old” whose body was found in an alley on Monday, Nov. 27, is believed to have fallen to his death from an apartment building located near 10th Street and Grand Boulevard in the city. That was the news provided by the Kansas City Police Department earlier this week.
Police said they confirmed the cause of death based on surveillance footage from the Grand Boulevard Lofts. While the case was initially designated a homicide, police have now reclassified the death as a “suspicious” death investigation.
The incident began when police were called to the apartment building just after noon on Monday, Nov. 27. Officers were directed to a child discovered in a nearby alleyway a short time earlier.
A police spokesperson provided limited details regarding the incident after it was reported Monday.
“There’s definitely bodily trauma that can be contributing factors to the death,” Kansas City PD Captain Corey Carlisle told KMBC. “We will rely on the expertise of the medical examiner to determine exactly what the trauma can consist of, whether it was used with a blunt instrument or weapon or whether it was caused by other means.”
Law enforcement officials told the media it would likely be several weeks before an official report was obtained from the medical examiner’s office and for police investigators to follow up on leads in the case.
Meanwhile, a second person was also transported from the scene by EMS. Also, it is unknown if there is any connection to the child’s death, nor did officials provide their identity and current condition to the media.
Police said no further information about the child will be released until their identity has been fully confirmed and next of kin have been notified. Officials also said details regarding how the child fell from the building would not be released at this time.
Residents of the building are struggling to come to grips with what happened there. A small memorial was set up overnight in the alleyway where the child was found. While police would not specify the boy’s age, residents of the building estimate the child was between five and six years old. A stuffed animal, toy dinosaur, flowers, and a candle left by some indicate it was indeed a young child.
One resident who would only give his first name, Bradley, is a 14th-floor resident of the building, which tops out at 17 floors. He emphasized that the windows in the building are extremely difficult to open.
“They’re really hard to open in, at least in my unit,” Bradley said. “The window only opens about this much [indicating less than a foot]. So how the kid fell through that window is kind of mind-boggling.”
Another resident, identified as John, agreed with Bradley’s contention that windows in the building are tough to open.
“They’re very hard to open,” he said. “Very hard. Something had to happen there.”
Another building resident, Tony Dewberry, told reporters he had only lost his own son last weekend when he was murdered while celebrating his birthday. The death of the young child only added to his struggles, he said. He also agreed with the two neighbors about the windows.
“They only come up maybe six, maybe eight inches,” he said. “You can barely stick your arm out. I had some plants, and I used to turn them to the side so I could put them on the ledge out there. But I don’t see how the baby could raise the windows to raise it up.”
The police said the case is an active investigation, and nobody has been taken into custody yet. They also reiterated there was no risk to the public. Police noted any criminal charges will be referred to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office after the investigation.
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