Boy, 6, dies after tragic 81-foot fall from Nashville apartment

NASHVILLE − A 6-year-old boy is dead after falling from a 12-story apartment building in Nashville, police said on May 13.

The incident took place the night prior at 200 Webster Apartments in the city's Madison neighborhood, about 10 miles northeast of downtown.

The Metro Nashville Police Department said officers responded to the home where the child lived with his mother about 9 a.m. the night prior and found him unresponsive on the ground outside the building. He was taken to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and pronounced dead.

The child lived with his mother in a one-bedroom unit on the eighth floor, police said, and the fall distance from the family's balcony was determined to be 81 feet.

Police identified the boy as Kingston McWilliams. An autopsy will determine the child's official cause and manner of death, police spokesman Don Aaron told USA TODAY.

Aaron said foul play was not suspected in the case.

"From everything we know, it appears to be a tragic accident," Aaron said. "Just horrible."

Child who fell from apartment 'repeatedly warned'

The child's mother said she was away from him in another room for "a brief time," before returning to find her son missing, according to police.

"She checked the hallway, the trash chute and ended her search for him by looking over the balcony and seeing him on the ground below," Aaron said.

According to a news release, the boy's mother told officers her son "frequently attempted to climb or lean over the balcony and has been repeatedly warned against doing so."

Contributing: Stuart Dyos with The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.