KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Cass County in Missouri and Miami County in Kansas. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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It has been nearly two-and-a-half years since 5-year-old Grayson O'Connor fell to his death from his mother's downtown apartment.
On Monday, Corrinne O'Connor entered a guilty plea in the case regarding Grayson's death.
The 5-year-old fell from his 17th-floor apartment in November 2023, and his body was found near East 10th Street and Grand Boulevard.
"He had a smile out this world, he had a million-dollar smile. Man, it touch your heart," neighbor Darryl Young told KSHB 41 on Monday. "He was a beautiful boy. He was going to grow up to be something."
Young and his other neighbor, Kelsey Grzib, knew the O'Connors well. They've lived in the building for a long time and often saw Grayson around.
Grayson died outside Young's window, and there is still an indentation where he lay that day.
Grzib and Young recalled many times Grayson approached them because he was hungry. The two told KSHB 41 they often left a loaf of bread on his door handle.
"It sometimes just bring me to tears knowing he’s gone, because he used to rippin' and runnin' in here, yelling, 'Darryl! Darryl! Darryl!'" Young remembered. "We'd just sit up here and eat and have fun."
Young and Grzib told KSHB 41 they noticed signs of neglect.
"It hurt a lot of people in this building. To hear this, her beating up on the kid, smacking him around," Young said. "It was disrespectful to me, as well as disrespectful to everybody else, to see this go down."
The KSHB 41 I-Team obtained records in O'Connor's Missouri Department of Social Services case last year.
From 2017 to 2023, the state received seven calls about Grayson's welfare.
The final notification the state received was on Nov. 27, 2023, when he fell out of the window of his 17th-floor apartment.
Records show there was a documented history in the O'Connor household.
The agency reported that O'Connor had unstable housing and prior drug issues.
There were also several other calls about her allegedly screaming at Grayson, leaving him in the street, getting into a physical fight with someone in front of him, having little food, and feeling overwhelmed about taking care of him.
There were multiple documented instances in which DSS tried to contact O'Connor "without success," or she was "not in need of services."
"Family services had all the opportunity," Young said. "There was plenty of signs. I mean, a blind person could’ve seen that this girl was abusive, very abusive to her son."
Grzib is still angry. She formerly lived on another floor when the O'Connors lived in the building.
Since then, she's moved up to the 17th floor due to apartment availability and must pass Grayson's apartment every day now.
"Ten years is a complete and absolute joke," she told KSHB 41. "The cops were called so many times."
To them, 10 years with no probation is something, but not the justice they feel Grayson deserves.
"She should’ve gotten more than what she’s supposed to have got," Young said. "That was a whole life that wasn’t even started yet."
KSHB 41 reached out to O'Connor's attorney for comment on Monday and hasn't heard back.
"We love him, and we’re sorry," Grzib said with tears in her eyes.
Previous coverage
- March 16, 2026: Mother pleads guilty, sentenced to 10 years in November 2023 death of 5-year-old son
- May 23, 2025: Attorney for mother charged in death of 5-year-old son intends to use insanity defense
- April 23, 2025: Despite concerns about well-being and multiple calls, state closed boy's case 2 weeks before his death
- March 4, 2024: Corrinne O’Connor pleads not guilty in November death of 5-year-old son
- March 2, 2024: Mother indicted in death of 5-year-old Grayson O’Connor, who fell from KCMO apartment building
- Feb. 13, 2024: Mother charged in death of 5-year-old son who fell from KCMO apartment building gets bond modification
- Feb. 1, 2024: Mother charged in 5-year-old’s death after fall from downtown Kansas City, Missouri, apartment evicted
- Jan. 30, 2024: Timeline | Death investigation of 5-year-old Grayson O'Connor
- Jan. 30, 2024: Mother charged in death of 5-year-old Grayson O’Connor, who fell from KCMO apartment building
- Jan. 25, 2024: Grayson O'Connor’s mother misses eviction hearing
- Jan. 16, 2024: Court document alleges Grayson O'Connor's mother removed stops from window he fell from
- Dec. 27, 2023: Community remembers Grayson O'Connor on his birthday as investigation into his death continues
- Dec. 21, 2023: Lawmaker wants Missouri to hire more employees to investigate child abuse claims
- Dec. 18, 2023: Police responded twice to Grayson O'Connor's apartment on calls related to child concerns
- Dec. 15, 2023: Jackson County prosecutors mull charges in death of 5-year-old boy, Grayson O'Connor
- Dec. 6, 2023: KCPD: 8 calls for service since 2017 to Grand Boulevard Lofts apartment where 5-year-old died
- Dec. 6, 2023: Grayson O’Connor’s death prompts Missouri lawmaker to call meeting with Department of Social Services
- Dec. 1, 2023: Neighbors push for justice after Grayson O'Connor's death in Kansas City apartment building
- Nov. 30, 2023: ‘Everybody knew him’: Neighbors remember 5-year-old who was found dead after falling from apartment building
- Nov. 29, 2023: KCPD identifies 5-year-old boy who fell from KCMO apartment building; mother listed as subject of interest
- Nov. 27, 2023: Police investigate after juvenile male found dead in downtown Kansas City, Missouri
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