Boy, 5, Dies After Being Found Hanging in Garage

A 5-year-old boy died shortly after he was found hanging Thursday in the garage behind his South Los Angeles home, authorities said.

The body of Gabriel McGee was discovered about 1:35 p.m. by his mother, who had gone out to the rear of the family’s home in the 5300 block of South 8th Street, Los Angeles Police Lt. Fred Nixon said.

A 6-foot-tall stepladder lay on the floor beneath the child, Nixon said.

McGee was rushed to Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, where he was pronounced dead, hospital officials said.

Police said they are unsure whether the death was a suicide or a homicide.

“All we know is that he climbed the ladder and either stepped off or had the ladder pushed,” said Lt. Richard Iddings of the LAPD’s Child Abuse Unit.

As the boy’s family and playmates gathered in the driveway of the home, saddened adult neighbors standing on street corners and lawns characterized Gabriel as sociable.

“He was a sweet child,” said a neighbor who identified herself only as Barbara. “He always liked to play with the kids around here and play in the yard.”

Dabbing tears from her eyes, she joined a chorus of other neighbors who rejected speculation that Gabriel may have killed himself.

“That child ain’t climbed no 6-foot ladder,” said a girl who claimed to be the boy’s cousin. “There’s just no way he is going to do something like that.”

Iddings said the boy’s parents were being questioned Thursday by the police, but investigators had no suspects.