A Minnesota married couple is facing charges after their 15-month-old daughter fell from a balcony to her death. Aisha Ali and Hanad Hassan Jama, 30 and 35, respectively, were reportedly warned about the danger their balcony represented to their daughter. The warnings, however, were not heard.
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According to a criminal complaint obtained by Fox 9, the incident occurred back on July 6. The Roseville Police Department responded to a Lexington Avenue North apartment building at around 2 p.m. after receiving reports of a toddler who had fallen from a balcony.
Upon arrival, RPD officers found the 15-month-old girl on the driveway, having suffered severe injuries from the impact. When the officers looked up, they noticed a second-story balcony with vertical metal bars that had gaps between them. Additionally, they also saw a partially opened sliding door and an off-track screen door with a tear in the screen.
Shockingly, as medics were treating the toddler girl, another young child, 2, held onto the outside of the safety bars above and observed what was happening. The officers, horrified, yelled at the child to go back inside before a woman retrieved the child, the complaint said.
The woman, it turns out, was Ali, the mother of both children. The children’s father, Jama, arrived shortly after the incident took place.
The 15-month-old girl was rushed to a local hospital. She, unfortunately, succumbed to her injuries the very next day.
Warned Parents
While investigating the incident, police learned from the apartment’s property manager and a neighbor that the couple had been allegedly warned of the danger their balcony represented.
According to the property manager, they had seen the couple’s children hanging out of the balcony as early as 2024. The neighbor, meanwhile, told the RPD that the screen and sliding door had been broken for months before the fatal incident took place.
During an interview with a child protection investigator, Aisha Ali said she was at home with the children, who were watching TV as she was getting ready to take a shower, WCCO News reported. She believed her husband was checking on the children.
Hanad Hassan Jama, however, said during the interview that he had told Ali that he was going out after seeing their children watching TV and making them lunch. He wasn’t sure if his wife heard him, the complaint added.
Jama denied the claims made by the property manager and the neighbor. He allegedly told authorities that he had requested the screen door to be fixed multiple times. Records, however, reportedly show that no requests had been made.
Additionally, Ali’s recount of events during the interview appears to contradict her initial statements. She had allegedly told police at the scene that she was showering when her toddler fell to her death. The complaint detailed that the shower was dry, and when confronted about the inconsistency, Ali appeared confused.
Aisha Ali and Hanad Hassan Jama were charged with second-degree manslaughter.