(KRON) -- A 13-year-old Oakland boy died after falling from a hotel window while his family was vacationing in Mexico earlier this month, a family member told KRON4. The family believes the hotel's faulty infrastructure is to blame for his death.
Ruben Navarro Jr. was known as just "Junior" to his family, his aunt Marisol Mendez said. Junior, a student at Lighthouse Community Charter in Oakland, loved dancing and bicycling and could often be seen joining bike groups in the East Bay.
On the first weekend of February, Navarro joined about 10 family members on a trip to Rosarito, a resort city in Baja California. They stayed at the Hotel Corona Plaza.
Images of Ruben Navarro Jr. from Marisol Mendez.Mendez said that on Feb. 1, the family returned to the hotel after a day out in the city. The adults congregated in the lobby while the kids went upstairs.
Ruben was playing in the hallway with his cousins when, according to the family, he accidentally backed into a glass panel. The panel came out of the wall, and Ruben fell six floors to his death early on the morning of Feb. 2.
Driver in deadly Piedmont Cybertruck crash had cocaine, alcohol, meth in systemMendez, who was not on the trip but was relayed information by her family, is a forensics expert. She said images from the scene show that the hotel's infrastructure was defective. A picture posted by local news outlet Rosarito en la Noticia shows no shards of glass in the window, suggesting the panel simply fell out instead of shattering.
“These hotels should have enough strength. There’s no way that window should’ve come off that easily," she said.
Image showing the window that Ruben fell from. (Marisol Mendez)Mendez said the hotel's hallway cameras did not pick up the fall because they are activated by motion, and Ruben wasn't moving fast enough to activate them. KRON4 reached out to Hotel Corona for its information and did not receive a response in time for this story.
According to Rosarito en la Noticia, another tourist died at the same hotel in an incident involving an elevator several years ago.
Ruben's death has been "really hard" for his family, particularly his mother, Mendez said. A GoFundMe has been set up for his funeral expenses.
Mendez knew him through her brother, who married Ruben's mother after he was born. As the family was meeting their new in-laws, Ruben immediately won them over.
“He stole their heart. He was hilarious. He had an old soul. The way he talked was like an adult,” she said.
The local police department, Fiscalia General de Estado, has been working with the family on Ruben's case. They have not responded to an inquiry from KRON4 as of the time this report was published.
The Oakland Unified School District declined to comment on Ruben's death, saying its public information office does not work with charter schools. Lighthouse Community Charter did not respond to an email from KRON4.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Oakland boy dies after falling from hotel window in Mexico, family blames faulty infrastructure )
Also on site :