18mo old dies after falling out of window...3ft drop

[twinklestars]

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Sunday evening, Orange County deputies responded to a home at 3209 McEwan Lane after a child fell from a window of the home.

Police said the window was on the ground floor and was approximately 3 feet from the ground.

Police told Local 6 there was grass underneath the window where the child landed.

According to police, the father found the boy and brought him back inside the home while he waited for paramedics.

After dialing 911, the father was given cpr instructions but the toddler was still unresponsive, police say.

Orange County paramedics took the child to Arnold Palmer Hospital where he died from his injuries.

Deputies were at the home conducting a death investigation.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/21624156/detail.html


I really want to reserve judgement here but the way the story is written makes me want to assume that something else happened to this toddler

[badfish76]

I suppose if the kid fell out and landed just the right way it would be possible to die from this.

I wonder if there was something else under the window? Did the baby fall thru the screen or thru the glass?

Keep an eye on this one for us.

[Dneilz]

I agree with you. 3 foot isn't that high.... doesn't make sense at all.

[Bay]

How did the baby get to the window in the first place?

[twinklestars]

Orange County deputies are investigating the apparent accidental death of a toddler who fell from a ground-floor window Sunday night.

Orange County Fire-Rescue paramedics and deputies were called to the home in the Southfork neighborhood off Lake Margaret Drive after a 911 caller reported that an 18-month-old boy had fallen from a window and wasn't breathing.

The child was rushed to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, where he was pronounced dead.

The nicely landscaped house on McEwan Lane is two stories, but the window the boy was reported to have fallen from is on the ground floor.

"It's only about three feet from the window to the planting area below," sheriff's Capt. Angelo Nieves said.

Investigators would not release any details late Sunday, including the names of the child or his parents.

Property records show the house has been owned by David and Candace Woock since 2000. David Woock is an Orange County firefighter.

Neighbors said the couple are foster parents who have cared for many children through the years, including at least some with special needs.

Lt. Paul Hopkins said that while there was no obvious sign of foul play, the Sheriff's Office will conduct an investigation and an autopsy will be performed, as is routine in cases of unattended deaths.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/os-bk...,7844765.story

Still not many details with this story. It has been nice out here in Whorelando so I could see opening your windows, but today it wasn't cool out(we've got the ac on).

[TDH]

hmmm....at first i thought it meant three stories...not three feet...
odd.....

[Silvahalo]

I'm suspicious but I'll wait on autopsy report to see what is determined.

Poor sweet child. Rest in peace.

[DrSmith]

I'm not saving my judgement. no way did this happen this way.

I had wrote in another thread my baby who will 19 months old shortly fell (and still does) on a regular basis and though every fall I think "omg she is going to kill her self!" she is just fine.

now she hasn't taken a 3 foot fall (I pray that never happens) but I find the odds of it killing a child pretty damn improbable.

these kinds of stories prompted me to ask my child's doctor if I should buy her a helmet for these toddler years. now they think I'm nuts

[mrdarcy]

Seriously...unless the child landed just. so. I don't see how a 3 ft. fall could have killed this toddler. Suspicious.

[mrdarcy]

Okay...think of this...some babies learn to climb out of their cribs, right? And that can be a pretty good drop.

[skeptik]

This blows my mind. It's three feet to the ground from the top of kiddo's climber and he's fallen off of that probably three times, one time onto an area rug on the tile floor when we first brought it home, the others in the grass. When he was maybe 6 months old he was laying in bed with his father (I was doing dishes) and rolled off and onto the floor. Daddy drifted off. I nearly killed Daddy that morning. At the ER the doctor told me some stories about some falls he had treated that were looked far worse, one from a second story window into the snow. He had kids fall off of roofs and highchairs and he said it was incredibly rare for a toddler to die from an accidental fall. "Nearly impossible," he said. I have taken my kid to the doctor for probably 75% of his tumbles. Never had anything any more serious than a bruise.

What a bizarre story. Anything is possible, I guess.

[smallwonder4]

Okay...think of this...some babies learn to climb out of their cribs, right? And that can be a pretty good drop.

Cribs, playpens, couches, beds, play equipment... all of it could be 3ft up! Unbelievable!

[ineedanap]

http://www.wftv.com/news/21625595/detail.html

"The screen was out of the window. When they went outside they found the baby laying in the dirt outside of the window," said Lt. Hopkins.

I'm calling foul on this one. We'll know soon enough.

[skeptik]

Maybe there was a chair or table nearby? Maybe he climbed up and out? Broke his neck?

[Echo]

The dad is a firefighter? That's weird. I would expect a fire fighter to be hyper safety conscious. Like having guards on the windows or at least being vigilant if they are open and a toddler is running loose.

Kids in NY die all of the time from falling out of windows.....but usually its because they fall several stories.

3 feet?

[ImmortalOne]

I guess if you land just the wrong way... it could happen.

However, my best friends son was about 4 years or so when he fell from a 2nd floor window without anything other than a scratch and bruises.

[wintersfootsteps]

This is one of those stories that make me frustrated because I don't know what to think.

Is it possible for a baby to fall out of a window, 3 feet, and become fatally injured?

Yes.

Likely?

No.

I can't wait for the autopsy results. This is a strange one.

[blahblahblah]

Just another one chiming in with disbelief. My son is 20 months old and a holy terror, god love him. He is CONSTANTLY falling down. A few weeks ago, he stood up on a kitchen chair and fell backwards off of it onto the tile, hitting his head. Scared the living hell out of me, but after a few tears (and a big bump) he was perfectly fine.

I don't see how it's possible that this child fell out of a window 3 feet from the ground and was killed by the fall. The only way it would seem plausible to me is if he had a pre-existing health problem. Frankly, I think it's a stretch to imagine that a child could even be seriously injured falling out of a window that low...let alone killed. :/

[twinklestars]

After seeing the actual window itself, I don't think this was an accident. The news is also reporting that a female babysitter in her early 20's was watching the children. This little baby was a foster child and the foster father (firefighter) happened to come home in the middle of this and help. Supposedly the child was alive when she found him but died at/or en route to Arnold Palmer. Arnold Palmer is literally a 5 minute ambulance ride from their location. Fishy.
There were also 2 other children in the home. She put the 18 month old down and checked on him 20 minutes later because she didn't hear anything. But that window has wooden blinds and it's not like this baby new how to be quiet or sneaky, moving them out of the way to go out a window would likely in my mind made some noise. The news shows it in the video last night when this happened they where down but open and appeared to be messed up a little. Look at the way the screen is bent too, strange...

[blahblahblah]

I just saw the pics at the source link. Yeah, I'm calling bullshit. There is no way the kid died from falling out of that window. Perhaps the sitter was pissed at him and threw him, and he hit the window and fell out? Just a thought. Blah. :(

[thebooblady]

Bio family speaks out..

The mother of a child who died after falling out of a window is demanding answers from the foster family caring for the boy.

A toddler dies after falling from a ground-floor window on Sunday.


Eighteen-month-old Tymaine Peters was rushed to a hospital on Sunday night after falling less than three feet from a window. He was inside a ground floor room in the home of David and Candace Woock, when he somehow fell to the ground. There are cement landings under some windows around the home. Despite CPR from David Woock, an Orange County fire captain, Tymaine died.

Tymaine had been in foster care since October 2008.

Amanda Hasty and her family are struggling to accept news that her son died while in foster care. Hasty said she is suspicious.

"If he fell, I don't think it could have hurt him like that," she said. "He would not have died from it. Three feet, you're not going to die from three feet. I think there is something else maybe."

Karine Peters was planning to adopt her nephew. She also finds his death suspicious.

"Why did he fall out of the window? You know, how did an 18-month-old baby fall out of a window, at that time of night, right?"

The Woocks said they are devastated.

Regardless of suspicions on the part of Tymaine's biological mother and other loved ones, the Department of Children and Families said the Woock's are exceptionally trained and capable foster parents.

http://www.wesh.com/news/21624009/detail.html

[twinklestars]

Investigators spent all night trying to figure out how a 3-foot fall could have killed the child who investigators identified as Tymain Peters.

“This is such a tragedy and we are going to have to work with law enforcement until we can figure out what happened,” said Carrie Hoeppner, Florida Department of Children and Families.

The foster father, a local firefighter, told deputies he and a babysitter had put the little boy to bed sometime Sunday night; when the father and babysitter went back to check on him at 8:00pm, the window screen was missing and Tymain Peters was on the ground outside.

The foster father called 911and tried CPR, but Peters was unresponsive when emergency crews arrived. The boy died at Arnold Palmer Hospital.

“They had put the child down to bed but didn’t hear anything. So when they went in to check on him, they discovered he was missing,” said Lt. Paul Hopkins, Orange County Sheriff's Office.

DCF says Tymain Peters had been with the foster family almost since birth, because of his parents’ medical neglect and substance abuse.

“In order to provide medical foster care, you have to have a capable background and complete checks. From what it appears, they certainly do,” Hoeppner said.

The family has fostered medically-needy children for almost ten years without incident. Three others still live in the house. Their fate will be decided once the investigation is over.

DCF said they had a routine visit at the home last week and nothing seemed wrong. They are getting the other children of the household grief counseling.

Investigators said they will have to wait on an autopsy to pinpoint a cause of death.

http://www.wftv.com/news/21625595/detail.html


Some of the comments are interesting...

This one from the boy's family

THIS CHILD IS OUR FAMILY MEMBER. WE ARE HORRIFIED OF LAST NIGHTS EVENTS. WE HAVE FOUGHT FOR HIM FROM DAY ONE AND THE STATE HAS LACKED INTEREST UNTIL LAST WEEK MONDAY. OUR QUESTIONS ARE UNANSWERED!!!!!! HOW DID THIS EVENT HAPPEN???? WE WILL NOT LET HIM REST UNTIL WE FIND OUT WHAT HAPPEN OR WHOSE INVOLVED. WE DO KNOW GOD HAS HIS PLANS AND DO BELIEVE THE TRUTH WILL COME OUT. WE LOVE U!!!!!

Nov. 16, 2009 10:48am EST | from PETERSFAMILY

[thebooblady]

Bio-mother's MySPACE: http://www.myspace.com/marks_bitch1990

No pics or mention of the kid aside from "proud parent".

[skeptik]

"mark's bitch"

WTF?

[wintersfootsteps]

This might make me sound like an uncaring bitch, but if the biological family cared about the child they would have had their act together. No drugs, no neglect. That pisses me off, sorry.

If the family had been taking care of foster children (some of them special needs) for 10 years without incident, I am willing to look harshly at the babysitter. Also, why were both the babysitter and the man of the house home at the time? If he was home, why the need for a sitter? Has the sitter babysat for them before? If yes, how long? Does the sitter have any sort of criminal history?

How old are the other kids in the home. It might be possible that the sitter/dad were in another area of the home and one of the other kids harmed the child? Either accidentally or on purpose?

There are a lot of questions to be answered here. I just think the record of the family itself seems spotless. If they were abusive in any way someone should have noticed within 10 whole years, right?

[badfish76]

OMG!

One of the pics on the "mother's" Mayspace says she and Mark are having twins! Lets hope it's the boobs falling out of her shirt she was talking about!

I agree with Winter. If they loved the baby they would have done what they needed to in order to regain custody.

[Silvahalo]

Eighteen-month-old Tymaine Peters was rushed to a hospital on Sunday night after falling less than three feet from a window. He was inside a ground floor room in the home of David and Candace Woock, when he somehow fell to the ground. There are cement landings under some windows around the home. Despite CPR from David Woock, an Orange County fire captain, Tymaine died.

You know this is just going in circles. Until we know what the autopsy has to say, it just doesn't make sense. Both my boys had a partial fall down the stairs, (it has a landing thank God!), one at 11 months the other at 14 months. Each sustained a bruise or two, some rug burn but nothing more than that.

I'm very suspicious and do expect to hear who ever was sitting baby Tymain knows exactly what happened. The autopsy please, it will tell us what we need to know!

Rest in the heavens little Tymain Peters.

[skeptik]

Baby had some sort of underlying medical condition, right? It mentioned that the foster parents take in medically needy children.

[twinklestars]

Baby had some sort of underlying medical condition, right? It mentioned that the foster parents take in medically needy children.

Yeah but in the video at the WFTV link it says the family members who did not want to appear on t.v. said the boy was healthy and had no medical issues (that they or we know of).

[mrdarcy]

DCF says Tymain Peters had been with the foster family almost since birth, because of his parents’ medical neglect and substance abuse.

I know this might seem bitchy, but IMHO bio-mom has no right to speak up...if she was such a good mom, Tymain wouldn't have been in foster care in the first damn place. I think she and her family are getting riled up and hoping to get some kind of money or something by suing Child Services. KWIM?


I also find it suspicious that the foster dad and the babysitter were both home, both put Tymain to bed, and then went to check on him because they didn't hear anything? How long was that after they put him to bed? Why was the babysitter still in the house? This is suspect!