KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The parents of a 3-year-old boy who fell from the eighth story of an Independence apartment building in 2024 pleaded guilty Monday to child endangerment.
Moses Lee Bass and Destiny Leeann Randle pleaded guilty to second-degree endangering the welfare of a child in ritual/ceremony, a class E felony. Both were ordered to five years of supervised probation.
Bass and Randle were charged in July 2024 after the July 29 death of their son Tidus.
The day of the incident, Bass told police he had left his children with Randle while he went for a walk with his dog. When he returned, he noticed emergency crews outside.
Bass said he immediately called Randle to check on the children.
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While she was inside the apartment, she had been in a different room and had not checked on the children since 11 p.m. the night before, per court documents.
When Randle picked up, she went to check on the children’s room. The window in that room had a ripped screen and didn’t properly lock.
As she walked entered the room, she noted the window was open and unsecured; she also said Tidus was missing.
Independence firefighters located Tidus face down in the grass near the apartments. He was surrounded by a diaper and toys.
He was transported to an area hospital, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
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In further interviews with police, Randle and Bass acknowledged they had become complacent and had “overlooked” the dangers of the window. Neighbors and maintenance had commented to Bass the children would throw toys out of the window.
Randle said she had submitted multiple requests with maintenance to get the window fixed, but her requests were never answered.
Additionally, Bass said the children knew how to remove the blue pole that was typically used to keep the window closed.
In August 2024, Bass and Randle were indicted by a grand jury of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Then, last December, a September 2025 trial was set for Bass. Court documents indicate the trial was canceled in July, and a plea hearing was scheduled in September for Oct. 20.
The couple's five years of probation began immediately.
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