What to Know
- The 8-year-old boy was climbing window bars at the home when he grabbed the concrete flower box and it came crashing down
- The boy's mother screamed for someone to call 911 and neighbors tried to help, but the boy died
- Police said no criminality is suspected and that it was a freak accident
A young boy died Thursday after a concrete flower box fell on him as he was playing in his front yard in Brooklyn, police said.
Eight-year-old Kevin Reilly was trying to climb a gated window outside his home on Ryder Street in Marine Park on Thursday evening when he reached up and grabbed the flower box above the window, police said.
The 4-foot long box came loose and crashed down onto the boy, pinning him underneath.
Neighbors said they saw the boy's mother screaming for someone to call 911 as she tried to free her son.
"She was trying to lift the piece, that stone, but she couldn't really lift it," Rahadul Kabir said.
Neighbors rushed to help the boy, but it was too late.
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"There was a gentleman who went there who was trying to give CPR," Fatema Kabir said. "I saw some blood coming from his nose."
Emergency responders found the boy unconscious at the home around 5:30 p.m., police said. He was rushed to Coney Island Hospital with head trauma and later pronounced dead.
"It's so tragic and horrible," neighbor Theresa Rhatigan said. "I just feel terrible for the family, for the parents. I can't imagine."
Police said there is no criminality and that it was just a tragic accident.
Neighbors said the family recently moved to the neighborhood and that Kevin was the middle child.
The yellow-painted flower box still sat next to toys in the family's front yard Thursday night.
"Who would have thought a potted plant would be so dangerous?" Rhatigan said. "It's awful."
