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2-year-old girl dies after display falls on her at Illinois mall

Posted at 11:33 AM, Aug 28, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-28 12:33:50-04

ORLAND PARK, Ill. — A 2-year-old girl died at an Illinois shopping mall after a store display fell on her, Orland Park police said at a press conference Wednesday.

The girl, identified as Alexandra Martinez of Harvey, Illinois, suffered significant head injuries, according to Orland Park police.

Alexandra was at Orland Park Mall with her aunt, grandmother and five children she was related to, police said.

A doctor and nurse on scene performed CPR and were able to regain a pulse and the girl resumed breathing. She later died at a local hospital.

"I think everything that could have been done was done under the circumstances," Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy said.

According to video from the scene and a witness, the children were seen playing in and around Akira, a store at the mall. Two temporary steel walls within the store, measuring about 8 feet high and 3 feet wide, somehow fell on the toddler, police said. The temporary wall dividers were standing next to each other and weighed between 75 and 100 pounds.

McCarthy said they cannot yet specifically conclude if any of the children may have pushed over one of the wall dividers.

The investigation is ongoing.