Father charged with manslaughter in fatal fall of 3-year-old in Brooklyn Center

Criminal charges have been filed against a father whose child fell from the eighth floor of a Brooklyn Center apartment building last May.

According to charging documents from Hennepin County Court, Saleban Abdullahi Duale, 30, of Irving, Texas, faces one count of second-degree manslaughter.

The charge stems from an incident that occurred on May 18.

As previously reported, Brooklyn Center police were called to an apartment where a 3-year-old child reportedly fell from the eight-story building.Dow suffered life-threatening injuries. The 3-year-old was later pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

A police investigation led officers to speak to the child’s father, Duale, and two of his children.

Duale told police he was staying at his brother’s apartment with his children and was watching them, including the 3-year-old. Duale said after he came out of the living room, where the 3-year-old was, the child fell.

According to court documents, Duale told officers the child was sitting on the back of the couch, directly in front of the open window.

The child’s eldest sibling, aged nine, told police that Duale was lying on a bed in the bedroom and was not in the living room and said their 3-year-old brother had pushed on the window screen before falling.

Another brother, aged 8, told police that Duale had been on his phone all day and that they had not seen their father in the living room or kitchen the morning of the incident.

Duale is currently not in custody; he faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.