‘Delightful’ girl dies from fall out window
Kindergartener fell four stories from Hamilton Street apartment building
Ahnelly Grace Rivera was described as “a delightful young girl” by her charter school principal on Wednesday, a day after the 5-year-old fell to her death from the fourth floor of her apartment building in Allentown.
“It is a tremendous loss to our community,” said Paul Hunter, principal and CEO of Seven Generations Charter School in Emmaus.
He said Ahnelly was in kindergarten at the school.
The young girl fell at about 6:45 p.m. from the the Livingston Building in the 1400 block of Hamilton Street.
Allentown officers were the first to arrive to the scene and rushed the girl to St. Luke’s Hospital, about three blocks away, Allentown Assistant Police Chief Gail Struss said. She was transferred in critical condition to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest and pronounced dead.
An autopsy determined Ahnelly died from blunt force head injuries and the manner of death was ruled an accident, Chief Deputy Coroner Andy Kehm said Wednesday.
Allentown police are continuing to investigate how the girl fell, but Struss said it appears it was an accident.
Hunter said he spoke to Ahnelly’s parents on Wednesday morning and they asked for
privacy as they grieve the loss of their daughter. Hunter said Ahnelly has a sister who is a first-grader at Seven Generations.
An aunt created a GoFundMe page to help her devastated parents cover the costs of her memorial service and burial.
On Instagram, another aunt posted several pictures of Ahnelly, writing “Gone too soon from the world. She was the silliest little girl you’d ever meet and always full of so much love and laughter. We will never forget this sweet baby.”