2-year-old girl dies after falling from window of Bronx apartment

A 2-year-old girl who fell from the window of a Bronx apartment building Tuesday night died from her injuries.

It happened on East 138th Street in the Mott Haven section.

Police say the child, named Julia, removed the plastic accordion side panels next to an in-window air conditioning unit and managed to squeeze through the gap, falling from the fifth-story window into a back alley.

"She was gone. And she was out the window. And I couldn't believe it," mom Thessa Wilcox said.

Superintendent Jose Sosa says he was the first one to reach the child.

"I found the little girl. We saw [she] was not alive. Face down," he said. "Somebody's hijo's on the floor. I can't do nothing at that time because I hoped to do something, but I couldn't. I hoped to find some kind of life in her, but she had no life."

Julia was raced to Harlem Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police say.

"And now my baby's gone, and I can't bring her back," Wilcox said.

A memorial is being built at the scene where Julia fell.

"Hold your kids tight. Hold 'em. Hold 'em. Love 'em. Because you may never know when they're gone," father Chayanne Polanco said. "Make sure you tell them you love them every night. Make sure you hold them."

Police are investigating the incident, but no criminality is suspected.

The family said they installed the AC unit themselves. The super said the plastic panels were only secured with tape, which the 2-year-old removed.

"Please, hold your babies because one day, they're not gonna be here," Wilcox said.