Boy dies after falling out of fourth-floor window while jumping on bed
A three-year-old boy who had been jumping on the bed in his aunt’s Harlem apartment on Friday morning fell out of the window and onto concrete stairs, plummeting four stories to his death.
The child, identified by police as Daniel Galeas, would have celebrated his fourth birthday on Monday.
According to the NYPD, officers responded to a 911 call reporting an unconscious child at an apartment building on West 133rd Street just after 10:20 a.m.
Daniel Galeas was jumping on a bed in his aunt’s fourth-floor Harlem apartment Friday when he fell out the window.
The child would have turned four on Monday
The fatal fall took place at around 10:20 a.m.
at a building on West 133rd Street in Harlem
This image taken inside the apartment shows the bed on which Daniel had been jumping, and the window with the AC unit though which he had fallen
A police officer stands guard at the front entrance to the 40-unit apartment building
Paramedics at the scene said the victim was found lying unresponsive in the back of the 40-unit apartment building. He had injuries indicating he had fallen from an elevated position.
An eyewitness told DailyMail.com the building’s superintendent flagged him down and asked him to make the 911 call, before leading him to the dying child.
‚The baby was, like, huffing, but he was turning purple…
and then he just stopped,‘ the Good Samaritan recounted.
The man, who has grandchildren of his own, said when he realized the young boy was dead, he broke down in tears.
‚I’ve never seen a baby take a last breath,‘ he added.
‚It’s going to stay with me forever.‘
Daniel was rushed to NYC Health and Hospital in Harlem, where he was pronounced dead.
The child’s grandmother, Maria Rivera, told that Daniel was in the care of his 28-year-old aunt while his mother was working security in the Bronx.
There were multiple children in the apartment, including Daniel’s siblings and cousins, at the time of the accident.
It is unclear if there was anyone present in the bedroom when the child fell, landing on a concrete staircase leading into the basement in the back courtyard.
The boy’s grandmother told she got a call from her daughter, Daniel’s aunt, saying she thought something bad had happened to her nephew when she did not see him around the apartment.
An NYPD captain is pictured talking to investigators outside the building where Daniel had fallen out of his aunt’s apartment, where there were several children present
The boy’s family accused the management of the building of failing to properly secure their AC, but the management claimed the tenants installed the unit on their own
Police remained on the scene for hours, gathering evidence as part of the investigation into the fatal fall
A person lights a candle at a makeshift memorial honoring Daniel Galeas
The bed Daniel had been jumping on was adjacent to a window, which had an air conditioning unit in it.
Police said the appliance was held in place by cardboard panels, one of which was apparently pushed out when Daniel fell.
The family accused the management of the building of failing to properly secure their AC, but the management claimed the tenants installed the unit on their own, Panele and that it was too small for the window.
The Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy on Daniel to determine the cause of death.
