Bond hearing postponed for mother accused of causing her child’s fall from KC high-rise
A judge on Monday postponed a hearing to consider whether to reduce the bond for the mother of a 5-year-old boy who fell to his death from the 17th floor of a downtown Kansas City high-rise last fall.
The Missouri Public Defender’s Office requested the delay, saying that 27-year-old Corrinne O’Connor’s public defender had not had an opportunity to speak with her.
Jackson County Associate Judge R. Travis Willingham rescheduled the hearing for 10 a.m. on Feb. 13.
O’Connor, who remains in Jackson County jail on $100,000 bond, has been charged with a felony count of child endangerment resulting in the death of Grayson O’Connor.
Her attorney, Anthony Vibbard with the Missouri Public Defender’s Office, has filed a motion saying that O’Connor is unable to post bond at the amount currently set and would appear as directed and abide by any conditions set by the court.
O’Connor is accused of causing the death of her son Grayson, who was found dead in an alley behind the Grand Boulevard Lofts at 10th Street and Grand Boulevard last November. She allegedly removed safety devices from the window of her apartment, according to court documents.
When a passerby discovered Grayson in the alley, police responded the building about 11:30 a.m. Nov. 27. Officers noticed a lone open window on the 17th floor and went upstairs.
After entering her apartment, officers asked O’Connor where her son was and she allegedly replied that he had gone out the window, according to court documents.
O’Connor did not call 911 to report his fall, authorities said.
His death angered some neighbors, who say there were warning signs of neglect or abuse over the years the two lived in the building.
Kansas City police were called to the apartment at least eight times since 2018, according to a Star analysis of police records. The calls were for general disturbance and another to check the welfare of a person who was threatening suicide.
Concerns about Grayson’s well-being were also reported via Missouri’s Child Abuse & Neglect Hotline, neighbors and another source told The Star.
Jackson County prosecutors charged her in December, but court documents remained under seal for more than a month. Willingham ordered them unsealed on Jan. 26.
O’Connor was booked into Jackson County jail on Jan. 25 and made her first court appearance via video the next day.
On Thursday, a Jackson County judge granted the petition from the apartment building’s owner for an immediate eviction of O’Connor from her apartment.
The Star’s Bill Lukitsch provided information for this story.
