COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Authorities say a 4-year-old boy choked to death Friday while playing on a trampoline in east Colorado Springs.
Lt. Brian Ritz of the Colorado Springs police said the Denver boy was alone in the backyard of his foster mother’s home around noon when he got his head stuck in a cord hanging from some safety netting surrounding the trampoline.
“We have no indication that this is anything more than an accident, but an investigation is under way,” Ritz said.
Ritz said the foster mother told police she was making lunch and sent the boy’s 3-year-old sister out to get him. The girl came back and said her brother wasn’t coming.
The woman then went to get the boy and found him slumped on the trampoline with his head caught in the cord, Ritz said.
The boy was taken to a Colorado Springs hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No names were released.
Ritz said the boy and his sister were placed in the foster home through Options Inc., a Colorado Springs placement agency that is licensed by the state Department of Human Services.
The El Paso County Department of Human Services will investigate the death and determine if the girl should remain in the home, authorities said.
Gail Jones of Options Inc. said the organization has received no previous complaints about the foster mother.
“It was a horrible accident, period,” she said.
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Information from: The Gazette,
