Woman pleads guilty in death of 5-year-old son who fell from high-rise apartment building
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) - A mother has pleaded guilty to charges related to the death of her 5-year-old son after he fell from a high-rise apartment.
A grand jury indicted Corrinne O’Connor on one count of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. She pleaded guilty on Monday to first-degree involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
The two charges carry significantly different consequences under Missouri law.
The original charge, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child leading to death, is a class A felony carrying a sentence of 10 years to life in prison.
The charge O’Connor pleaded guilty to, first-degree involuntary manslaughter, is a class C felony with a maximum sentence of 10 years.
O’Connor received the maximum sentence with credit for time already served in the Jackson County jail.
“The plea was reached after careful consideration of the evidence and circumstances of the case. A child lost their life and the decision allows for both accountability, while also acknowledging a mother who is now living in grief,” Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said.
The mother’s charge stems from the November 2023 death of 5-year-old Grayson O’Connor. His body was found on the ground outside the Grand Boulevard Lofts apartments.
According to the indictment, O’Connor “knowingly acted in a manner that created a substantial risk to the life, body and health” of Grayson by “failing to supervise” him while they “were together in a 17-story apartment containing a fully open window.” This, the indictment states, “resulted in the death of the child.”
Court documents filed in an eviction case involving O’Connor also accused her of removing safety devices from an apartment window before her son’s death.
The landlord of the Grand Boulevard Lofts apartments claimed the boy’s mother removed a safety device, a window stop, from the apartment window.
Additionally, a probable cause statement described conditions inside the apartment as unsanitary and unsafe. Investigators said feces were found on the floor, flattened into the carpet and there was no bed in the bedroom. Chocolate was smeared on the interior windowsill with what appeared to be child hand imprints, dripping down the exterior of the building.
Court documents note that O’Connor was not the one who called 911, as investigators found her phone on the counter, broken and unable to power on.
Neighbors described Grayson as a happy, friendly child who loved dinosaurs and firetrucks. The county prosecutor said she hopes his mother will find assistance during her sentence.
“We hope that during her time in custody, she will have access to the resources and support she needs," Johnson concluded.
