'I heard this huge thump' | Woman describes the moments she discovered a 3-year-old boy had fallen on to her balcony, to his death

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A 3-year-old boy has died after falling out a window of a high-rise apartment building in the 200 block of Yoakum Parkway in Alexandria.

Alexandria Police Chief Don Hayes says they received a 911 call around 2 p.m. that a child was injured.

First responders found a 3-year-old little boy laying on a balcony. Despite efforts to revive him, he was pronounced dead.

"They brought the body bag in, it was just a little tiny thing," said a first floor resident of Arrive Alexandria.

She asked to remain anonymous, but told WUSA9 it was the "balcony" attached to her apartment where the little boy landed. She says the space is not considered a legal balcony, and is only accessible through a window. 

She said she didn't realize what had happened initially.

"I heard this huge thump. It sounded like metal just fell on the balcony. I jumped up and looked out the window, but I didn't see anything," she said.

But, about 10 minutes later, there was a knock at her door from first responders.

"They asked if they could look out the window, because they think a baby fell out on the balcony," she said.

She says she told them what she'd heard, but that she hadn't seen anything when she looked out the window from her living room.

"Together we went to my bedroom and that's when I saw the baby on the ground. I just freaked," she said. "I saw the body of the baby. He was laying head up, like he fell on his back"

She says the first responders jumped into action. "They went and busted the screen down and started performing CPR," she said.

She told WUSA9, "I kept asking has the baby passed and they wouldn't answer me. But, the baby didn't cry and they'd been out there trying to resuscitate the baby for a while."

She watched in horror as they tried their best to bring him back.

"They brought the body bag in, it was just a little tiny thing," she said.

Even worse, the screams she heard from the little boy's mother.

"I heard the mother outside screaming. It just messed me up because the wail in her voice was so piercing," she said.

"I'm a granddad it's heartbreaking I feel for the family. I can only imagine what's going through this for them," said Chief Hayes.

Wednesday night, Alexandria Police told WUSA9 they were still trying to determine how the child fell.

"There was a screen up there, I don't know if the child fell through the screen or not," he said.

He also said there were others inside the home when it happened, but wouldn't share any details about who they were or if they were adults or children.