HOLLYWOOD – When the father of 4-year-old
Jessie Delduca went into one of the family vacation condo’s
bedrooms last Saturday morning at 11:20 a.m. and opened a
window to allow for a cross-breeze, he made sure it was one
of the three furthest from the beds.
After a few minutes,
when he hadn’t seen his son anywhere, he went back into the
bedroom looking for him. He didn’t find Jessie there, but he
did discover that the window he opened had a partially bent
screen. He pulled the screen out of the window and shut it
closed.
An aunt who was traveling with the family then went into the
bedroom, minutes after the father left. She noticed the
screen propped against the bed. Unaware as to why or how it
got there and, according to a Broward Medical Examiner’s
report, “thinking it odd,” she opened the window and looked
down. It was then that she saw her 4-year-old nephew lying
on a breezeway area below.
The incident occurred at Quadomain Condominium in the 2400
block of South Ocean Drive.
When the aunt first made the discovery,
she and the boy’s mother and father went to the lobby where
they told the attendant to call 911, but before the
attendant made the call, she followed the family outside
where she saw the boy lying unresponsive on the ground. Then
she called 911. |
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A 4-year-old boy fell out of a 16th-story window at a
Hollywood condominium.
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The Broward Medical Examiner’s report
said the 4-year-old was pronounced dead at 11:53 a.m. That
was 33 minutes after his father entered the bedroom and
opened the window, then came back to find the bent screen.
The medical examiner determined that the boy had landed 10
feet from the building and that it was an accidental fall.
One neighbor described a chaotic scene, telling Local 10
that when it happened, frantic residents from overhead
balconies were waving and screaming. The medical examiner’s
report also said a call was placed from a fourth floor
apartment to 911. The caller states that he heard a “thump.”
Other people near the building said they heard a man
yelling, “Oh, no.”
Carlos Ramos, who lives nearby, said he heard someone
screaming in Spanish and English. “He was asking for help.”
The boy’s mother told Hollywood detectives that Jessie “had
always wanted to fly.”