3-year-old dies after dresser falls on top of her

SURPRISE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - We're learning more about the tragic death of a 3-year-old girl in Surprise who died when a bedroom dresser fell on top of her, trapping her underneath it.

Neighbors in the area near Litchfield Road and Grand Avenue say they didn't know the family, but are praying for them.

"It's just sad and scary. It can happen anytime. One minute you can be fine and the next minute, your child's gone," said Lana Garcia.

Kyle Garcia added, "Just sad, it's tragic how a dresser could just fall on them. You just never know when something like that happens, but it's really sad when it does."

Police say it appears the little girl was climbing on the dresser.

As it turns out, accidents like these happen a lot more than you may think.

According to AnchorIt.gov, every 24 minutes, tipped furniture sends a child to an emergency room and on average, one child dies every two weeks after a television or other furniture falls on him or her.

It's now one local parent's mission to make sure parents know the importance of anchoring a child's dresser to a wall.

"That's going to happen, that's what little kids do. So even if they are climbing on it, just having it strapped to the wall, put it in to a stud, anchor it to the wall so that way if something like that happens you're protected," said Bobby Kethcart.

It's something Kethcart didn't know was important until it happened to his family. He says a 220 pound dresser fell on his 3-year-old son John last year after he pulled a few drawers out. Luckily, his son wasn't seriously injured.

"I think that he had parked his scooter and started pulling out the drawers just to see what it does and it came out on top of him, but I think the scooter was there and had handle bars about a foot wide, so I think when it came down, the scooter was underneath it and kept it from coming all the way down on top of it."

It's now Kethcart's mission to educate other parents of the dangers.

"Never thought about it when we bought it, now I hope it gets to the point where every parent thinks about it everytime they buy one of these things," he said.

In the case of the 3-year-old girl who tragically passed away, police say it appears to be just a terrible accident and no charges will be filed.