Community In Mourning After Dresser Accident Kills 2 Girls
ALIQUIPPA (KDKA) - A Beaver County community is mourning the loss of two little girls who lost their lives after a dresser toppled onto them on Friday.
The Beatty family was supposed to spend this weekend at the beach. Instead, they spent it at Children's Hospital.
Now, they are planning two funerals and grieving a loss most can't begin to understand.
"It's tough. My heart goes out to the family," Damien Hall, a neighbor, said.
That's how people living on Irwin Street in Aliquippa reacted to the news that two young girls on their street died over the weekend in a terrible accident.
Brooklyn Beatty, 2, died on Friday. Her 3-year-old sister, Ryeley, died Sunday at Children's Hospital.
"You don't want it to happen anywhere, but to hit right here, it's just real tough. Like I said, it's an unfortunate situation, but it's sad," Hall said.
The girls were playing in their room on the Fourth of July, when a dresser toppled over.
Their father was preparing a bath for the girls, when he heard the crash. He rushed into the girls' bedroom and found them pinned underneath the dresser.
Law enforcement sources tell KDKA-TV that the top two drawers in the four-drawer dresser were empty, when the children were either sitting or standing in the bottom drawer, and the dresser then toppled over because of their weight.
The dresser was free standing, not attached to the wall with any bolts or screws.
Emergency responders tried to revive the girls, but both ultimately died of their injuries.
Beaver County Coroner Teri Tatalovich-Rossi ruled both girls' deaths as accidental because of asphyxiation due to compression of the chest.
The district attorney and Aliquippa Police are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths and said the parents are cooperating fully.
Meanwhile, the family is receiving an outpouring of support.
Friends and neighbors will gather for a memorial service Monday evening outside of the family's home.
"They had a lot of joy, they played a lot. The parents were always there with them. I just want them to be remembered as being loving little girls. Now, they're angels," Hall said.
The girls' great-grandfather said he wants people to know that Brooklyn and Ryeley were beautiful little girls who were loved and adored by their parents.
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2nd Child Dies After Dresser Falls On Beaver Co. Toddlers (7/6/2014)
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