Mother Seeks Criminal Inquiry Into Chongqing Toddler's Fatal Fall

The mother of a 2-year-old boy who died after falling from an 18th-floor home in Chongqing has renewed her request for a criminal investigation, saying police have accepted her report alleging negligent homicide.

The woman, surnamed Liu, told the Yangtze Evening News today that Huangnibang police station had accepted the report.

Liu said police had previously regarded the death as an accident that did not meet the conditions for opening a criminal case. She wants written notification if they again decline to do so and has hired a lawyer who represented a party in an earlier Chongqing case involving two siblings' fatal fall to assist with seeking a review of whether a criminal case should be opened.

The boy died on September 13 after his father, a man surnamed Cui, left him at home to walk the dog. The reported timeline places their arrival home at 3:23pm, Cui's departure at 3:26pm and his return at 3:38pm. Property managers called police and ambulance services at 3:36pm after a groundskeeper witnessed the fall.

Liu alleged that prolonged neglect by Cui caused their son's death. She said she had submitted additional witness accounts from neighbors and questioned why he left the child alone with a window open, as well as the position of a bathing tub. She said there was no surveillance camera inside the home.

In an earlier media interview, Cui said he had left the boy watching cartoons on a living-room sofa and was away for 12 minutes. He searched the home after returning, then heard shouts from below and saw his son on the ground from the balcony.

Cui said forensic personnel had suggested the child might have stepped onto the rim of a balcony bathing tub and fallen through a window while holding a quilt.

He expressed remorse and denied intent or abuse, saying surveillance footage showed he was away when the fall occurred.

Cui hung up when a newspaper reporter identified themselves today. An officer contacted using details on Liu's receipt for the report declined to disclose case details.