Ruled an accident: Four-year-old boy dies after television falls on him

MILWAUKEE -- A four-year-old child has died after an unsecured television fell on him at a home near 15th and Mineral on Milwaukee's south side. The incident occurred on Thursday morning, July 30th at approximately 8:15 a.m.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office says the boy was attempting to load a DVD when the unsecured television fell on him.

According to the medical examiner's report, the nearly 150-pound television was located on top of a dresser. The DVD player was located in the top drawer of the dresser. It appeared as though the boy pulled out the bottom drawer of the dresser to hoist himself up in order to reach the DVD player in the top drawer. At some point, the entire dresser and television fell over and the television landed on the boy's head.

The boy's mother was in another room, caring for another child when the incident occurred.

"There was a big noise from upstairs and there was blood on the stairs and the mom was -- she really was reacting -- crying and screaming," Henry Vazquez said.

Henry Vazquez is nine years old. His mother gave him permission to speak with FOX6 Newsa bout what happened next door on Thursday morning.

"Locally we see injuries quite frequently in the ER. Serious ones, you know, several times a year. It's something that parents don't always think about, unfortunately, when they're child-proofing or baby-proofing. They think about gates and they think about outlet plugs," Jane Howard, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin injury prevention supervisor said.

Howard says it's important furniture and televisions are secured so they cannot tip over onto a child.

"Kids are going to climb. They're going to open those drawers. They're going to climb. They're curious. Nobody means for that to happen, but those are the things that as soon as that child steps on that lower drawer, the whole dresser or, you know, piece of furniture can go down," Howard said.

Investigators are calling the child's death an accident.

It's a heartbreaking story all around -- but this incident presents an opportunity to remind parents of the options available when it comes to keeping heavy furniture from falling onto your children -- incidents authorities refer to as "tip-over tragedies."

Meanwhile, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) offers the following tips to prevent tip-over tragedies:

Learn more helpful information at AnchorIt.gov.