Prayer vigil held for 2-year-old girl who died after falling from window in the Bronx

A prayer vigil was held Friday for 2-year-old Julia Polanco-Wilcox, who died after falling from the fifth-story window of a Bronx apartment building.

Parents Chayanne Polanco and Thessa Wilcox say she was their only child.

"My tears are dry," Polanco said. "Like, I just can't believe my J.C. is gone."

Wilcox clutched a pink teddy bear as the community gathered to remember Julia for what she brought to the world in her short time here.

"Julia was a fiery, sassy, very energetic, loving soul," Wilcox said. "She would brighten up a room when she would walk in."

Police say just before 11 p.m. Tuesday, the toddler removed the plastic accordion side panels next to an in-window air conditioning unit and squeezed through the gap, falling five stories to the ground below in the building's back alley.

Julia was taken to Harlem Hospital in critical condition, where she died.

"I ask God to forgive me please for not watching her," Wilcox said.

"Who's going to change her diaper, and who's gonna give her her baba, and maybe who's going to change her clothes? But I can't have that anymore, and I just wish I could have that," Polanco said. "So please, I beg of you, hold your kids."

The family previously told CBS News New York they installed the AC unit themselves, and the superintendent said the plastic panels were secured with tape, which Julia apparently removed.

The Department of Health says it's saddened by this fall and investigating, telling CBS New York in part, "We urge building owners to ensure window guards are properly installed and maintained to keep children safe and ask families to report any concerns."

"So she would call, call everybody, and no one, no one even came. And now I don't have my baby girl," the victim's grandmother said.

The parents say they did request window guards through 311, but they never heard back.

The city says records from 311 and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development do not show any window guard complaints between 2020 and the present day.

"They tried to call 311 several times. No answer. How many times do we have these management and these companies, they want your rent, they want your expenses, but they don't want to repair," said Boyde Singletary, senior pastor at Alpha and Omega Church.

CBS News New York also tried reaching the landlord for the building by phone and email Friday to ask if they were involved with providing or requesting window guards, but no one got back to us.

The Department of Health says just this past January, it instituted additional requirements for the proper installation of window air conditioners, including requiring window guards or devices that prevent them from opening more than 4.5 inches.

"I miss just holding her, you know? Just holding her like this," Polanco said.

Julia's family says they are trying to raise money for funeral and burial expenses. They say she is Native American and they want to transport her body to South Dakota, where the family has a plot.