A father and his girlfriend have been charged in the death of a 3-year-old boy who died when he fell eight stories from a unit at the Independence Towers on Monday, the Jackson County prosecuting attorney said.
Moses Lee Bass and Destiny Leeann Randle are both charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, a class A felony.
Firefighters find boy on grass
On the day of the boy's death, firefighters were called to the apartment just after 10 a.m. on reports a child had fallen.
Firefighters located the boy face down on the grass near the apartments.
Court documents also indicated a diaper and toys were near the area where the boy fell.
The unidentified boy was transported to an area hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Investigation into boy's death
After the boy fell, officers spoke with Bass, who confirmed he was the boy's father.
Bass told police he left his children with his girlfriend inside their apartment unit, according to court documents.
He had taken his dog out and was speaking with an apartment manager when he noticed emergency crews and police.
Bass said he called his girlfriend to check on their children after seeing emergency crews evaluating a child.
Police also spoke with Randle, who stated she had been inside the master bedroom that morning.
She told police she hadn't checked on the children since 11 p.m. on Sunday, July 28.
Randle also said the children knew they were expected to stay asleep until she or Bass exited the primary bedroom.
Court documents said Randle had been asleep until 10 a.m. and didn't hear any noises coming from the children's room.
She also told police the window in the children's room had a ripped screen and didn't properly lock.
Randle claimed Bass used a blue pole to secure the window, which was supposed to be in the windowsill at all times.
After receiving Bass' call to check on the kids, Randle said she walked into the room and noticed the window was open and unsecured.
She also said the boy was missing.
Randle told police she had submitted requests to the apartments multiple times to fix the window.
Officers checked the room after the boy's fall and noted that the window was closed. Police also saw no sign of the blue pole Randle mentioned.
A search warrant was later executed and investigators did not find a blue pole in the apartment.
Randle said the window was opened by another child who was in the room while they were unattended.
Inside the apartment, police noted trash piled around the unit, especially inside the kitchen.
The beds inside the children's room were covered in dirt and did not have any sheets on them.
Old diapers were also found inside the urine-scented room.
Police said there was a child safety door knob inside the room where the children slept.
Police interview witness, Bass and Randle
Investigators interviewed a tenant who lived on a floor below the one where the boy fell.
The witness said she often saw toys thrown from the window where the boy fell from for months.
In a formal interview with police, Bass allegedly said he knew of the safety hazards posed by the window, according to court documents.
Bass also said he knew the children were able to bypass the locks on the window.
He doubled down on claims that a blue pole was used to keep the window closed but also acknowledged that one of the children knew how to remove it.
Bass also said neighbors and maintenance told him several times that his children would throw toys out of the window.
Randle was also interviewed and acknowledged the safety hazards the windows posed.
Court documents state "she advised she had become complacent and overlooked it."
Randle also said she was concerned one of the children could fall out from the window one day.
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