At 15:17 hours on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, Boston Police received a call reporting that a child had fallen out of a window on the top floor of an apartment building at 12 American Legion Highway in Mattapan. The Boston Police press conference can be watched below.
When the police arrived to the scene, police found the unidentified 4 year old child, who the family told responders was autistic, suffering from serious, life-threatening injuries. Boston EMS quickly arrived to the scene where EMTs and Paramedics began to attempt resuscitation of the young child. While continuing CPR and other live saving measures, they rushed him to a local area trauma center.
Hospital staff and EMS eventually were able to get ROSC, or return of spontaneous circulation, and the child was then transferred to Boston Children’s Hospital where he remains in critical condition as of this morning. Sources close to the investigation say they are still unsure if he will actually survive his injuries.
Original, unsubstantiated, twitter reports from less than credible accounts, indicated that the child was thrown out of a window during a domestic dispute; however, these reports have not been confirmed and investigators say that they are looking into all possibilities.
Our team at Live Boston did pull the radio recordings of the incident and it appears that the confusion stemmed from a 911 caller who was unaware of the incident and called for a woman screaming hysterically. The Dispatcher stated that the 911 caller reported the woman screaming “no don’t do that… oh my god Isaac!”
Although foul play can absolutely not be ruled out, it is highly inappropriate and unprofessional to speculate at this time given the extremely limited facts about such a sensitive incident.
What we do know is due to the severity of the child’s injuries, full notifications were made and members from the Homicide Unit, Crime Scene Response Unit, Crimes Against Children Division, District Detectives, Command Staff and the District Attorney’s Office all responded to the scene as well as others. According to Boston Police officials, this is normal procedure in this type of incident.
As of today, no arrests have been made and no charges have been filed. Additionally, no further information has been provided by the Police Department. The Boston Police Department continues to review the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident and is asking anyone with information relative to this investigation to contact Boston Police Homicide Detectives at (617) 343-4470.
Community members wishing to assist this investigation anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463). The Boston Police Department will stringently guard and protect the identities of all those who wish to assist this investigation in an anonymous manner.
