MELROSE — A 3-year-old boy fell to his death from a window of an East 161st Street building Saturday afternoon, police said.
Gabriel Estevez somehow fell from a window at 280 E. 161st. just before 3:45 p.m., authorities said.
"I heard a scream," said Edilia Quian, 40, who has lived in the area for 30 years. "I ran across the street and saw a boy laying on the ground, not moving."
The toddler landed onto a seven-foot-wide grassy area on the facade of the building facing Park Avenue.
"I saw his face and I couldn't believe it," said neighbor Jennifer Rincon, 20, who saw the boy in the moments after the fall.
The boy was rushed to Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, where he died, police said.
"He was a little angle, a little kid with a big soul," Quian said.
The NYPD said Sunday investigators were still trying to determine from which window in the eight-story building Gabriel fell. No one has been charged, but the investigation was ongoing, a spokeswoman said.
The city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which enforces the presence of window guards in apartments with children younger than 11 years old, will send investigators to the building on Monday, a spokeswoman said.
Relatives in the baby's third-floor apartment were too distraught to discuss the baby's death Sunday.
"The family...is just devastated," Rincon, who said they had lived there less than a year, said.
Loved ones set up a makeshift memorial in front of the building adorned with balloons, stuffed animals and votive candles.
"RIP Gabriel," read one of the signs.
Gabriel, who neighbors said loved playing baseball and riding his scooter, was looking forward to Halloween to dress up as his favorite superhero.
"He always loved Spiderman," Rincon said. "He was saying for Halloween he wanted to be Spiderman.
"He was a happy little boy," she added.
And neighbors remembered Gabriel, who could always been seen trailing his 11-year-old brother, as a ball of energy.
"He was a feisty little boy," said Denise Brown, 55. "I thought he was maybe six years old the way he acted. Very spicy kid."
Gabriel's family, despite not having spent much time in the building, has been getting heartfelt wishes from dozens of neighbors.
"The family hasn't even lived here a year and just look at all the support they're getting," Brown added.
"It's all so shocking, sad to think about," she added. "But I guess it was just his time."
