A couple who endured multiple miscarriages are now devastated after their longed-for daughter fell out of a New York City apartment window and died.
Chayanne Polanco and Thessa Wilcox lost their two-year-old daughter, Julia, in a tragic accident at their Bronx apartment Tuesday night.
The toddler fell from a fifth-floor window after she removed the plastic accordion-style side panels on a window unit air conditioner, CBS New York reported.
Police said Julia then managed to squeeze through the gap left that had been covered by the paneling and fell into a concrete back alley.
Building superintendent Jose Sosa found the little girl lifeless and lying face down on the ground, and tried to save her, he said.
Paramedics rushed Julia to nearby Harlem Hospital in critical condition, where she died from her injuries.
The NYPD told the Daily Mail that no arrests have been made. The investigation remains ongoing, but authorities do not suspect any criminality in the case.
Wilcox, who told ABC 7 how the couple tried multiple times to have a child, is now in a state of shock, saying through her tears: ‘I can’t believe she’s gone.’
Julia Wilcox Polanco, two, died on Tuesday night after she fell out of a fifth-floor window at her parents’ apartment in the Bronx. Source: Sameria Black Crow/GoFundMe
Chayanne Polanco, left, and Thessa Wilcox, right, are heartbroken by the loss of Julia, whom they welcomed into their lives after a miscarriage and years of trying to get pregnant
The grieving mother said she briefly left the room around 10.30pm Tuesday and noticed on a baby monitor that Julia had disappeared.
‘I saw on the monitor she wasn’t there and I went to run back and she was not. She was gone and she was out the window,’ she told the news outlet.
Polanco, who was not home at the time of the incident, said he was in total disbelief when he got the call about the accident.
‘I thought it was a hoax. I thought it was someone else. But they kept on insisting I should go to Harlem hospital,’ he said.
The couple are so distraught that Wilcox has barely been able to get out of bed.
Polanco, in an interview with CBS, urged other parents to hold their children close because you never know what day may be their last.
‘Hold ’em. Hold ’em. Love ’em. Because you may never know when they’re gone,’ he said. ‘Make sure you tell them you love them every night. Make sure you hold them.’
The couple allegedly installed the air conditioning unit themselves, with the superintendent reporting that the side panels were only secured with tape.
Polanco, pictured with Julia and another loved one, said he was in total disbelief when he got the call about the accident. ‘I thought it was a hoax. I thought it was someone else,’ he recalled. Source: Sameria Black Crow/GoFundMe
Wilcox, pictured with Julia and other loved ones, says she is so distraught by the tragedy that she has struggled to get out of bed
Julia fell from a window of this apartment building after she removed the plastic accordion-style side panels on a window unit air conditioner and squeezed through the gap
In a professional installation, the panels would be secured using a combination of screws, mounting tracks or frames and pressure-sensitive adhesive.
Wilcox and Polanco noted only some of the windows in their apartment were equipped with window guards, or metal bars spaced no more than four inches apart that are specifically designed to prevent children from falling through.
The window that Julia fell through did not have guards, the couple said.
Under New York City law, owners of any building with three or more units are required to install window guards if a child under the age of 10 resides in the apartment.
Building owners who do not comply with this law could be subjected to violations and fined.
A makeshift memorial has been created in the alleyway where Julia was found.
Her loved ones have also created a GoFundMe campaign to help with funeral costs and other expenses.
Julia, who is a member of the Northern Arapaho and Oglala Lakota community, will be laid to rest on her family’s burial plot in Wambli, South Dakota.
Superintendent Jose Sosa found the little girl lifeless and lying face down on the ground in the alley behind the building. A makeshift memorial was placed where she was found
Julia, who is a member of the Northern Arapaho and Oglala Lakota community, will be laid to rest on her family’s burial plot in South Dakota. Source: Sameria Black Crow/GoFundMe
‘Our family is heartbroken by this loss,’ Wilcox’s sister, Sameria Black Crow, wrote on the fundraiser.
‘Right now, both of Julia’s parents are emotionally devastated, and our family is scrambling to gather the money needed to lay baby Julia to rest.’
She added: ‘Thank you for helping us honor Julia and bring her home to be laid to rest with her family.’
