Woman accused of throwing toddler off balcony

FLUSHING, NY

Two-year-old Jerry Zhou's empty stroller now sits outside of his apartment in Flushing, Queens in New York.

He's a little boy who no doubt experienced sheer terror as he was thrown off of a balcony and fell seven stories to his death.

Police say Xiaoqiu Cai zeroed in on little Jerry and tossed him over the railing.

The toddler's mother and other relatives saw it happen as they were all inside Apartment 7C at the time.

"They never smile, they never say hi and bye; I don't talk to them," said a neighbor.

The neighbor did not want to go on camera, but said his wife called him last night around 8:30pm, just moments after hearing Jerry's mother's screams for help.

He rushed home from work and told WABC in New York that there have been other incidents with Cai, who lives in the apartment with her daughter in one room, while Jerry's family lives in a second room.

Neighbor, says "A couple of months ago, I was over there helping police officers doing translations, she always thinks someone is trying to poison her. All kinds of crazy things, everyone trying to kill her," the neighbor said.

Officials say the 53-year-old has been depressed for some time, and is on medication.

They say that right before she allegedly threw Jerry off of the balcony, she had been arguing with her daughter.

"All of a sudden we heard screaming, me and a friend and as we got closer the screaming got louder and louder," said Chad Jenkins, a witness.

When Chad Jenkins got closer, he saw Cai on the balcony.

Police say she tried to jump but people inside the apartment pulled her back.

Down below, Jerry's broken body was curled up on the cold sidewalk.

"He had a nice little gash on his head, he was bleeding, my first instinct was to run over there and try to compress it and steady his neck," said Jenkins.

Cai is now undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

This story is from WABC-TV, our sister station in New York.

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