Child disappeared from same apartment where boy died

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – A couple faced a judge Wednesday charged in connection with the death of a 3-year-old boy who fell nine stories to his death Monday. Now, FOX4 has learned it wasn’t the first time in the past week one of the children inside the apartment disappeared, apparently without the adults in charge knowing.

Keirra Canady had never seen the inside of her friend’s apartment on the 8th floor of Independence Towers.

“I just knew that they were hard-working parents, so it didn’t dawn on me to investigate what the inside of their house looked like.”

Prosecutors say those conditions rose to the level of child endangerment, charging Destiny Randle, 28 and Moses Lee Bass, Jr. late Tuesday night. According to charging documents, there were piles of trash, the smell of urine and a bedroom window without a working lock and a hole in the screen where children were known to throw toys out.

Canady, who works nearby, accompanied the family to the hospital when the boy fell Monday.

“They allowed Destiny to go over and see him, but after that it was like when everything just kind of hit the fan,” she said.

Independence police and SWAT officers executed a search warrant and say they also found safety doorknobs on the inside of the children’s room to keep them from getting out before the couple woke up. Canady says that may have been because of what happened Monday morning of last week.

Independence police posted on July 22 about a 5-year-old wandering in the area of the gas station near Independence Towers at 7 a.m. He wasn’t able to provide police with his last name or his parent’s name. A couple hours later they posted he was back home.

FOX4 has confirmed the wandering boy was the older brother of the 3-year-old who fell from the window.

“It is tragic a baby had to lose its life, but it is on the parents and I feel like somebody should have definitely stepped in then,” neighbor Raylee Pemberton said.

Independence police referred questions about the sibling getting out last week to Missouri’s Children’s Division, who they say were notified. Confirmation the situations were connected came after their offices were closed, so at this point, it is unclear where that investigation stood and if they had visited the apartment or had planned to before the other child’s death.

According to prosecutors, the couple had been trying to get management to fix problems with the window for months. Independence’s mayor met with residents and faith leaders Wednesday about ongoing issues at the apartments.

Meanwhile, prosecutors focus on what the couple could have done to have prevented the tragedy. Each had their bond set at $100,000 by a judge Wednesday.

“The person that I know as far as Destiny and Moses if they were a little bit more aware of the situation and attended to it a little bit more, I’m very sure they would have done everything in their power to make sure that nothing happened to any of their babies,” Canady said.

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