The toddler of a Nevada family has fallen to his death after his guardian placed him near a window. In fascination with the trucks driving by outside, the step-grandmother propped two-year-old Chandler Johnson on April 11, 2024.
Videos by Wide Open Country
As Chandler sat on the arm of a couch, 58-year-old Darla McDermott left him to go to the bathroom. Upon returning, McDermott expected to see the little boy, but he had disappeared.
"I'll never forget that day," the step-grandmother said to KOLO TV. "I have nightmares all the time. This guy hollered at me, asked if it was my kid. I looked down, and he was laying on the concrete."
Toddler Falls From Window To His Death
First responders rushed to the scene to try and save Chandler, but doctors pronounced him dead at the hospital.
"I immediately dropped to my knees and started screaming and crying," Chandler's mother Gabryelle Johnson recalled.
Although McDermott has not yet been charged, Johnson and Chandler's paternal grandmother Sheri McDaniel have demanded it. They have questioned whether the police investigation was thorough enough and are looking for justice.
Sparks PD allegedly claimed they couldn't charge every parent who made a mistake that resulted in a child's death. But the two refuted by saying McDermott isn't a blood relative and should be charged accordingly.
Meanwhile, they have wondered if McDermott left Chandler alone for more than the alleged 30 seconds. On top of that, they want answers to why the window was open enough for Chandler to fall out of it. First responders also took 10 minutes to arrive, which is longer than it should've been.
McDaniel gave some of her own insight on why the situation is so confusing. "I don't understand how someone gets away with killing a child," she said. "She was the one who was the adult in the apartment. She's the one that left him alone with the window wide open. He wouldn't be dead if she hadn't done what she did."
The paternal grandmother revealed more puzzling information in a Facebook post. She explained how McDermott left the window "completely open" despite the lease warning tenants of how unsafe the screen was for children. Those screens couldn't hold much weight.
McDaniel lived in the same building, so she knew of the rules set in place. "You have to be accountable for the things you've done and be accountable for the pain you caused my family because you couldn't shut your window, and you couldn't make him safe," she said to the outlet.
Johnson and McDaniel have now hired a lawyer with hopes of possibly charging McDermott and re-opening the investigation.
