‘But she was happy’: Family of mom who plunged to her death with two-year-old son from third level of San Diego’s Petco Park disputes cops’ finding that it was murder-suicide
- San Diego cops say deaths of Raquel Wilkins and son Denzel was murder-suicide
- Raquel, 40, and Denzel, 2, plunged to their deaths on September 25 last year
- Their deaths occurred as thousands of baseball fans were heading inside for a Padres MLB game at Petco Park
- Police said on Tuesday that after combing video footage and obtaining evidence related to the case, they determined that Wilkins’ cause of death was suicide, and her son’s was homicide
- But a lawyer for the family disputes the findings, alleging a cover-up by the city
- Dan Gilleon said the deaths were a tragic accident and multiple witnesses said she appeared ‘happy’ and was laughing before falling over the railing
The death of a mother and her two-year-old son who fell from San Diego’s Petco Park has been ruled a murder-suicide – but a lawyer for the family disputes the finding and says that the city is trying to shield itself from a lawsuit.
Raquel Wilkins, 40, a regional lead at California Virtue Academy and a former chemistry teacher at Durant High School and her son Denzel Browning-Wilkins, 20, plunged to their deaths from the third level of the baseball stadium at 4.11pm on September 25 last year.
Their deaths occurred as thousands of baseball fans were heading inside for a Padres MLB game.
Police said on Wednesday that after combing video footage and obtaining evidence related to the case, they determined that Wilkins’ cause of death was suicide, and her son’s was homicide. They have refused to release the evidence they obtained during the investigation to Wilkins’ family.
Dan Gilleon, an attorney for Wilkins’ family, has disputed the findings and said the deaths were a tragic accident and the city is trying to shield itself from being sued. Multiple witnesses have said she appeared ‘happy’ and was laughing before falling over the railing.
San Diego police have today classified the death of Raquel Wilkins (right) as a suicide, and the death of her two-year-old son Denzel (left) as a homicide
However, Dan Gilleon, an attorney for Wilkins’ family, has disputed the findings about Raquel and Denzel (pictured), alleging the murder-suicide classification is a cover-up, citing witnesses who described the 40-year-old as ‘happy’ on the day
In a text sent to The Associated Press, Gilleon said: ‘The city doesn’t want to explain why it concluded that a young mother would kill her only child at an event where witnesses said she was happy.
‘To me, the city is acting like any other defendant in a lawsuit: blame the victim, especially if they are not able to defend themselves.’
A man, who did not want to be identified, told the San Diego Union-Tribune at the time that his wife witnessed the tragedy and saw the toddler appear to fall first and his mother tumble over while trying to grab him.
Another witness told Fox News that both victims and a man were seated at the table next to her on the concourse of the stadium. She said that at one point, the man was standing next to the woman who was ‘jumping on the bench of the table closest to the railing, holding the baby in her arms’.
‘She seemed happy, laughing. She lost her balance and fell off the bench. I remarked to my son, ‘Oh my gosh, she almost fell.’
About 30 seconds to a minute later, Wilkins and her son plunged to their deaths after she lost her balance, according to the witness.
In a statement released back in September, the San Diego Padres said: ‘We are deeply saddened by the loss of life at Petco Park last evening. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of those involved.’
The mother and son plunged to their deaths from the third level of the baseball stadium at 4.11pm on September 25 last year
In a statement issued by the San Diego Police Department said: ‘The detectives conducted a thorough and comprehensive investigation that included dozens of interviews, reviewing of available video footage, and collecting background information to determine what led to the deaths.’
The determinations were made in consultation with the San Diego County Medical Examiner, police said.