The mum of a baby boy who plunged to his death from a seventh floor window twice asked a council for repairs, a neighbour claims.
The tragic tot, named locally as Exodus Eyob, fell around 60 feet from his mum’s bedroom in the block of flats in Leeds, West Yorkshire, on Saturday.
His mum, also named locally as Birikti Berihew, 40, was said to have been ‘in bits’ after the tragic death and was receiving support from friends at a local church.
Their identities have not been confirmed by police.
It is believed the single mum-of-three was making food for her youngest child when the tragedy happened.
A friend said she’d asked the council twice to fix a broken window in the three-bedroom flat, but it had not been resolved.
Close pal Yohana Tesfagaber, 32, said: “She’s very nice, she’s a good mum.
“I’ve just come back from her, she’s not good. She was sick yesterday, she’s been vomiting. She can’t keep any food down.
“I think the boy climbed onto a table and then has climbed onto the window.
“She’s called housing twice to ask them fix the latch on the window.
“She was making food for the baby and her daughter shouted that he had fallen.”
Yohana, who lives in the flat above Birikti, said the community was united in its grief for the tot.
She added: “Its very sad. I saw him in hospital, it’s hit me very hard.
“His mum can’t eat, she can’t sleep.”
Birikti has not returned to the flat where she lived with Exodus and her two other children since the fall.
Neighbours told of their sorrow at the ‘energetic’ little boy’s death.
Wayne Watson, 42, who lives in the tower block, said he’s been waiting for repairs to his faulty window ‘for a few months’.
He explained windows in his flat open on a latch system but can be opened with a slight bit of pressure.
Wayne, a cleaner, said: “She’s a very nice lady, I’ve known her quite a while. I’ve done some decorating for her and she’s given me food before when I had nothing in.
“The windows have two latches on them, but they’re faulty. You put a tiny bit of pressure on them and they come off.”
A local at the Pentecostal church that is supporting Birikti said: “She’s a really amazing person, she’s an amazing mum.
“She does a lot for the church and has a lot of close friends from the church. She’s very emotional at the moment.”
A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of this incident, and we are working closely with our partners at West Yorkshire Police to establish the full circumstances surrounding this very tragic event.
“We're supporting the family with an urgent transfer into another council property, and we ask that people respect their privacy at what is a very difficult time for them.”
