Father Charged After 3-Year-Old Falls To His Death In Brooklyn Center

BROOKLYN CENTER, MN — A Texas man has been charged after his 3-year-old son fell out of the eighth-floor window of a Brooklyn Center apartment building and died.

Saleban Abdullahi Duale, 30, faces one count of second-degree manslaughter. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

On May 18, Brooklyn Center police officers and paramedics were dispatched to an apartment complex on a report of a child who fell out of a window.

The child was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers spoke to the victim’s father, Duale, who was staying at his brother’s apartment with his children.

Duale told officers he was watching his kids and, after he walked out of the living room, the child fell, according to the criminal complaint.

Officers went to the apartment in question and noticed a couch that was backed up immediately to the window from which the child fell.

Duale said the child had been sitting on the back of the couch, right in front of the open window, immediately before falling, according to police.

Child protection investigators interviewed the victim's siblings, including an 8 and 9-year-old.

According to the criminal complaint, the child told investigators that:

• Duale was lying on a bed in the bedroom, on the phone "all day," and not in the living room
• The victim was pushing on the window screen before he fell

Duale is not currently in custody.