Independence apartment residents concerned after young boy’s death
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – Neighbors in Independence, Missouri are still processing what happened at their apartment building Monday morning. A memorial now sits on the side of Independence Towers, near 24 Highway and Jennings Road.
Independence police said a 3-year-old boy died after falling nine stories out an apartment window.
“It’s terrifying to think about,” Neighbor Alec West said.
West has lived at Independence Towers for about a year. Since then, he said neighbors have seen broken toys scattered on the ground in the same area where the 3-year-old was found.
“We would see broken toys, pill bottles, like anything that… like a toddler would be able to grab off a table and throw out a window. It was clear there was a kid throwing stuff out a window all the time,” West said. “You know, you never thought anything of it, you just thought, bad parenting.”
The fire department said just after 10 a.m. Monday, emergency responders found the boy lying face down in the grass. Officials said the boy was rushed to the hospital where he died.
A 13-year-old at the apartment said he saw the aftermath of what happened.
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“I saw like a kid laying on the floor,” the 13-year-old neighbor said.
Police are working to determine how the boy fell out of the window, they said he was not alone inside.
Monday they could not say if the fall was accidental in nature, or not.
In May, a new property manager took over the building. Neighbors said some things are better, but problems haven’t disappeared.
They said AC issues still exist.
“Half of the windows are open and I believe that maybe that could’ve prevented it,” neighbor Lindsey Picard said. “I’m not sure what the full story was with that, but it’s very sad. That’s why I have locks on my windows and everything, like I said, I have an autistic son and everything.”
FOX4 saw several open windows Tuesday. Temperatures in the 90’s outside, while under an excessive heat warning. We saw some AC units. Picard said she paid $300 for three of her own.
“Before I bought all that stuff it was really hot. I was like I’m not going to deal with that because I have two kids,” Picard said.
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Neighbor Chris Carlton said the main AC system in the building is broken.
“I would really love to get that AC unit fixed,” Carlton said, “so that we don’t have to rely on having our windows open and who knows what our kids or our pets might do unobserved.”
Despite sending maintenance requests, Picard said it’s difficult to get repairs done.
“We keep getting new management over and over and over again,” Picard said.
“Let us help you,” Independence Community Development Director Tom Scannell said.
Scannell said the city has not received any official complaints from any tenants in this building.
There’s a landlord-tenant complaint for people can fill out.
“If there are formal complaints the city will investigate those, to make sure those complaints are addressed and those units are brought up to proper living standards,” Scannell said. “It may seem a little redundant, but it’s that process so that we can follow necessary steps so that if there’s any challenge from landlord or property owner all Is are dotted and Ts are crossed.”
Scannell said its building official was in contact with the property manager Tuesday morning. He said the call was about getting the overall AC unit fixed and getting AC window units installed in all the units.
FOX4 reached out to the property manager several times over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. They have not yet responded to our requests for interviews.
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