MIAMI (WSVN) - Police are investigating the fatal fall of a mother and her 5-year-old son at a Brickell high-rise as a murder-suicide.
City of Miami Police and Fire Rescue units responded to the scene at the Rise Brickell City Centre condos, located at 88 SW 7th St., at around 8:15 p.m., Monday.
Investigators believe the woman murdered the child by throwing him off a balcony before she jumped to her own death.
Witnesses called 911 after, police said, the boy fell more than a dozen stories onto the sixth floor terrace.
Crews located the child and administered CPR before rushing him in extremely critical condition to Ryder Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead.
A family says a five-year-old and 37-year-old mother are dead after they fell from the at least the 20th floor at 88th SW 7th St. They were found unresponsive on the 6th floor by fire rescue. Earlier a family member called officials saying the woman threatened to jump. @wsvn pic.twitter.com/ZNBtyHJsLp
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) February 26, 2019
Crews later learned of the possibility of a second patient, and that’s when they found the woman in the bushes on the sixth floor. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Family members said both the mother and her son fell from at least the 20th floor. They identified the woman as 37-year-old Solange but did not give a last name.
Fire officials said they had received a call earlier from a family member saying the woman had threatened to jump.
Residents in the area said they were in disbelief that a woman could do this to her own son.
“Late last night, I heard, in passing, ‘Rise,’ and I go, ‘No, that couldn’t be this building,'” said Patricia Lopez, who lives in the building. “I waited until this morning, saw the news, and I said, ‘Oh, my God.'”
“I asked the management and people from the building, but they weren’t allowed to say anything,” resident Roberto Junior added. “I just saw the cops in the building interviewing people. It’s a very family-friendly building. I love the area. I never saw anything weird.”
Lopez agreed that the building doesn’t usually see much police presence and rarely has any problems, saying “It’s a very sad story for the family and also the people that live here. It’s a great building.”
Police initially refrained from releasing the names of the two involved until next of kin were notified, but the medical examiner identified the boy as Luciano Matos and his mother as Solange Matos.
“I was a bit surprised. Sad,” said Junior.
Solange’s family said they are devastated, adding that she never showed any warning signs that she could harm her child or herself.
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