Baby Boy Killed by 24-Foot Fall From Balcony

An 8-month-old boy died Friday afternoon after he fell from the balcony of a second-story apartment in Anaheim, authorities said.

Randy Davila, who had been left in the care of a baby-sitter, went through a railing and landed on his head after falling about 24 feet, said Kent Mastain, a division chief for the Anaheim Police Department.

The fall happened at 1617 S. Walnut St. at 2:43 p.m., Mastain said. Paramedics performed CPR on the child, who was unconscious and struggling to breathe, he said.

The Garden Grove boy, who never regained consciousness, was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, where he was pronounced dead at 3:07 p.m.

“It’s really tragic,” Mastain said. “Kids are really pliable. Amazingly, they often come out of these things relatively uninjured. But when a child lands on his head, it’s a very, very difficult situation to come out of alive.”

It was unclear where the baby-sitter was when the incident occurred, Mastain said. “You need to watch children every second,” he said.

The incident will be investigated to determine whether the child’s death was the result of neglect, Anaheim Police Sgt. Chuck Craig said.