Sentenced: Parents Knew Of Window Safety Hazards For A Year Before 3YO Fell 9 Storys To His Death

[Sugar Cookie]

Prosecutors filed charges in connection with the Independence Towers child death against the victim’s dad and his girlfriend.

Moses Lee Bass Jr., 30, and Destiny Randle, 28, are charged with child endangerment resulting in the death of a child. On Monday, a 3-year-old boy died after falling from a 9-story apartment window.

According to a probable cause statement, police identified Bass as the 3-year-old’s father and interviewed him. Bass told investigators he left his other three children with his girlfriend, in their shared apartment on an upper floor.

Bass told investigators he walked downstairs to take the dog out at approximately 10 a.m. Monday. He said he was talking to the building manager when he noticed emergency and fire crews arrive outside the building.

Court papers say Bass then called Randle to have her check on the other children, after seeing a child being evaluated by IFD.

Police also contacted Randle, who said the last time she checked on the children was at 11 p.m. the day prior.

Randle said the children were all supposed to be asleep until the parents came out of the bedroom in the morning. She said she woke up at 10 a.m. and did not hear any noises coming from the other bedroom.

Randle said she knew the window in the children’s room had a rip in the screen and did not properly lock. Randle said Bass usually secured the window with a blue pole that was
supposed to be in the window at the time.

Randle reported that when she checked on the children and noticed the window open and unsecured, and a child was missing.

Randle said she has attempted several times to get building management to fix the window and stated the window has been in that condition since they moved in about a year ago.

Officers checked the children’s bedroom and did not see the blue pole that Randle described anywhere in the bedroom.

A witness reported to police she consistently saw toys thrown down past her window that were within the path where the child fell. The witness said this had been happening for around 8 months.

Court documents say Bass told investigators that he and Randle knew about the safety hazards of the window. He said they have known about them since June 2023. He said he also knew that the children were able to bypass the locks and get out of the window since December 2023.

Bass revealed that he knew one of the children was able to remove the bar due to children throwing toys out of the window. He said neighbors and maintenance brought it to his attention multiple times.

Randle stated she also knew about the safety hazards of the windows and still allowed the children to stay in the room for long periods of time unattended, according to court documents.

She said she had become complacent and overlooked it. Randle stated she was concerned from day one that one of her children would fall out the window.

https://fox4kc.com/news/charges-filed-in-independence-towers-child-death/

Three children were placed in the custody of Children’s Division and taken to the Child Protection Center for forensic interviews.

The probable cause document described the following details of the apartment’s condition:

The residence had trash piled up everywhere, specifically in the kitchen, which had huge piles of trash built up in a shopping cart. All the beds in the children’s rooms were covered in old dirt and did not have any sheets on them. Old, used diapers were also found in the children’s room with no receptacle to hold them. The children’s room specifically smelled of urine.

Parents knew of window safety hazards for a year before toddler fell to his death: court records

Moses Lee Bass, 30, and his girlfriend Destiny Leeann Randle, 28, were each charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

www.kctv5.com

 

[runninfawn]

the children (all 4 in one b/r? ) and they knew about the window and it's hazard so what was wrong in trading rooms with the kids?? and heck you have kids wake up in the morning before they do, feed them breakfast and watch your kids.... nothing is wrong with "quiet time" in bedroom when kids still take afternoon naps but not leave 4 kids unattended to entertain themselves all day long ... i know when mine were small my living room was like a mine field you had to watch where you stepped because of all the kids toys which they helped put away in toy box before bedtime... we made a game of it and had happy well supervised kids and taught them to play nice , share toys, etc

 

[Sugar Cookie]

One of the other children in the home, who had visible marks on his arms and legs, told investigators that Randle and Bass had recently “hurt him with an object they call Mr. Blacky.” He then drew authorities a picture of a “black whip or belt-like object.”

While executing a search warrant on the home, Bass allegedly told police that “Mr. Blacky” was a belt, while Randle allegedly said they used it to “whoop the kids.”

Parents beat kids with 'Mr. Blacky' charged in death of toddler who fell from window: Cops

Moses Bass and Destiny Randle in connection with the death of their 3-year-old son, who died after falling out the window of their eighth-floor apartment building.

lawandcrime.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Titus

 

[HijabiGirl]

These sound like neglected kids. Trash all over the place, used diapers strewn about, and who the hell gets to sleep in until 10 am with multiple kids in the house?! My roosters are up by 7 am and crowing in my ear. Granted my teenager usually has to be dragged into the daylight by 9 am but that's to be expected. It sounds like they just locked these kids in a nasty room and let them fend for themselves.

 

[Busy Bee]

The property manager should provide windows that operate properly. If they wont do that, invest in window guards, bars on the windows. If you value your children’s lives, safety it’s your best bargain. So preventable. Then again I’ve known children who climbed out a window in minutes, strung a rope down a stairwell, you had to make a close watch on that one, when he was quiet for more than a minute you knew it was time to see what he was doing.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

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.

https://fox4kc.com/news/child-disappeared-at-the-same-apartment-complex-where-boy-died/

 

[Sugar Cookie]

According to court documents, Moses Bass and Destiny Randle each pleaded guilty to one count of endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree.

Both were sentenced to five years of supervised probation.

As part of their probation, Bass and Randle must follow the recommendations of family court in related cases. Each was also ordered to pay a $46 Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund fee and court costs.

The charges stem from a July 2024 incident at the Independence Towers complex that led to the child’s death.

On July 24, 2024 a 3-year-old boy died after falling from a 9-story apartment window.

MSN