TV falls on, kills 4-year-old boy in Orange County home, deputies say

Deputies identify victim as Tyren Moss

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A 4-year-old boy died Tuesday after a TV fell on him at a home in Orange County, according to his family.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office said Tyren Moss died in the incident, which was reported at 1:49 a.m. at the Eagle Landing apartments, previously known as Los Robles, on Silver Star Road near Mercy Drive.

The child's stepfather said he heard a "crack," got out of bed and found Tyren under the TV in the living room. Deputies said the TV fell from a stand.

Tyren, who suffered a head injury and was bleeding from his nose, was taken to Florida Hospital South, according to his family. He later died, deputies said.

Deputies said a parent was home at the time of the incident and is cooperating with detectives.

No other details, including the type of TV, have been released.

The incident comes about one year after a 1-year-old Ocala girl was killed when a TV fell on her.

Dangers of falling TVs

According to statistics from SafeKids.org, every three weeks a child dies from a television tipping over.

The organization released a study on the dangers of TV tip-overs in 2012 and found that 12,800 children in the U.S. were injured from a TV tipping over onto them in 2011.

“We recommend doing a TV safety check, and if it's an old TV (CRT model), it needs to be out on a low, stable piece of furniture, because those can't be mounted like you can your flat screens,” said Cindy Dennis, with Safe Kids Northeast Florida. “Purchase a strap, and strap the TV to the wall.”

According to the numbers from Safe Kids, seven out of 10 children injured by TV tip-overs are 5 years old or younger.

For perspective, a 36-inch CRT television falling 3 feet creates the same momentum as a 1-year-old child falling 10 stories, according to Safe Kids.

A new study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found that of 300 tip-over incidents, 90 percent involved a CRT TV.

For more information on TV tip-over dangers and how to prevent them, go to SafeKids.org. The organization has compiled a tip sheet and an infographic explaining the statistics and produced a video for parents.

Watch News 6 and stay with ClickOrlando.com for updates.


About the Authors:

Ezzy Castro is a multimedia journalist on News 6's morning team who has a passion for telling the stories of the people in the Central Florida community. Ezzy worked at WFOR CBS4 in South Florida and KBMT in Beaumont, Texas, where she covered Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Being from Miami, Ezzy loves Cuban coffee and croquetas!

Daniel started with WKMG-TV in 2000 and became the digital content manager in 2009. When he's not working on ClickOrlando.com, Daniel likes to head to the beach or find a sporting event nearby.

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