Falling Branch Kills Baby in NYC's Central Park

A 6-month-old baby was killed Saturday and her mother injured by a falling tree branch at New York's Central Park Zoo.

Police said the 33-year-old New Jersey woman was posing with her baby in front of the sea lion exhibit and her husband was taking their picture when the branch fell.

The woman and infant were taken to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where the baby was pronounced dead. The mother was listed in stable condition.

Police identified the baby as Gianna Ricciutti of Union City, N.J.

Max Pulsinelli, a spokesman for the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo, said he could not comment on the accident beyond what the police had said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family," he said.

Trung Tran, who was with his own partner and baby at the park when the accident happened, said he heard the branch crack and looked over.

"The baby wasn't crying or anything. So that seems to me it's a bad situation," he told WNYW-TV. "We didn't hear anything at all."

It's the second fatality caused by a tree branch this year at Central Park.

A 46-year-old man died in February when a branch heavy from snow fell and hit him.

In July 2009, a Google engineer was knocked unconscious after being hit on the head by a rotted tree branch at the park.