A large tube-style TV fell on the head of a 1-year-old boy on Feb. 7, 2012, after toppling from the piece of furniture behind it in this photo. The boy later died of his injuries. (Credit: CBS)
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Updated 02/07/12 – 9:45 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) — A 1-year-old boy was killed Tuesday afternoon when a 50-inch TV fell on his head on the Far South Side.
Authorities said it happened about 12:30 p.m. in the 11300 block of South Edbrooke Avenue in the Roseland neighborhood.
As WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports, relatives identified the victim as 17-month-old Sean Brown.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports
“I keep telling them, ‘Watch your babies. Watch your babies. This is a little fellow. He’s going to be 2, I think in September. So he’s an active little fellow,” his great-grandmother Mozelle Kyles said.
A Fire Department spokesperson said when paramedics arrived, someone had already taken the child to the hospital. Police said the boy was taken to Roseland Community Hospital. He was later transferred to the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital.
As CBS 2′s Kristyn Hartman reports, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed the boy later died.
Kyles said her daughter is the one who took the boy to Roseland Hospital.
“I just know it’s a big TV,” Kyles said, “and it toppled over on him. It wasn’t really high, but it’s a big TV and he’s a little fellow.”
Neighbor Lolita Moore said the stand that the TV, an older-style box-type television, had been sitting on wasn’t stable enough for the TV.
Arvey Levinsohn, founder A&H Childproofers looked at photos of the fallen TV and the piece of furniture it was sitting on and seemed to agree.
“It’s a shame that these incidents happen when it’s so easy to fix,” he said.
He said the stand the TV had been placed on was too tall and narrow for such a large TV.
“It’s just an accident waiting to happen,” he said.
Levinsohn said there are ways to anchor old front-heavy monitors and new flat- screen TVs to the wall with straps and studs.
“The old TVs are off-balance. All the weight is in the front. That’s where all the components and the tube is,” he said. “The new TVs, it’s all pretty centered, but bases are nowhere near wide enough to support a TV that’s 50-inch, or 60-inch or a 42-inch. And when a child grabs a hold of the top of that TV, it’s very easily tipped over.”
He called the stability fix an inexpensive and easy way to prevent the pain Sean Brown’s family was feeling Tuesday.
Kyles said the accident illustrates an important lesson for parents.
“Watch your children,” Kyles said. “First things first, your children come ahead of anything, everything. … Don’t leave them by theirself. If you know you’ve got an active baby, keep up with it.”
Moore also said she hopes that the accident serves as a reminder to parents to keep an eye on young children.
“It’s teaching parents to watch your children. Even though these TVs are old, Lord, you have to watch your kids. One-year-olds don’t know no better,” Moore said. “So it’s left up to us parents.”
As with any routine investigation, police were looking into the baby’s death. So is the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Accidents involving falling TVs have proven deadly multiple times in the past year. In January, Gianna Hadjis, 4, was killed when a television fell on her head her home in University Park.
In October and November, respectively, similar accidents killed Shaniya Singleton, 3, of the Englewood neighborhood, and Karl Clermont, 6, of Arlington Heights.
