New York City girl dies after falling out 5th-story window in the Bronx, parents and police say

Child pushed out divider between window, air conditioner: police sources

NEW YORK -- A New York City family is grieving the loss of their 2-year-old daughter after she fell from a fifth-floor apartment window Tuesday night, according to her parents and police.

Julia died after falling from her family's apartment in the Bronx. Her father, Chayanne Polanco, said he received a call about the incident while heading home.

"I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a hoax. I thought it was someone else. But they kept on insisting I should go to Harlem hospital," Polanco said.

Julia's parents said the toddler brought joy to their lives after a miscarriage and multiple attempts to have a child.

"I've been too sad to leave my bed because I can't believe it's real," her mother, Thessa Wilcox, said through tears. "I can't believe she's gone."

According to her parents, the incident happened around 10:37 p.m. Tuesday. Wilcox said she briefly left the room and noticed on a baby monitor that Julia was no longer there.

"I saw on the monitor she wasn't there and I went to run back and she was not. She was gone and she was out the window," Wilcox said. "And I couldn't believe it."

Police sources said the child fell after pushing out the accordion-style divider between a window and an air conditioner. Wilcox said she frantically ran downstairs and tried to climb a fence to reach her daughter in an alleyway after the fall.

The building superintendent, Jose Sosa, said he attempted to save the child.

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"I hoped to do something but I couldn't," Sosa said. "I hoped to find some kind of life in her but she had no life."

Julia was remembered by her parents as energetic and full of life. They said they had recently taken her trick-or-treating for the first time.

"Everyone was just giving out candy and being so happy and I'm glad she got to see that. I'm glad she got to be there," Wilcox said, sobbing.

Her parents said they never imagined it would be their first and last Halloween together.

"If there's anything that I would like to say is please watch your children and bring awareness to better, safer child care," Wilcox said. "Please hold your babies because one day they're not going to be here."

The parents said only some windows in their apartment have window guards, and not the window Julia fell through. Police said they suspect no criminality in the case.