In a statement released Wednesday by the San Diego Police Department, authorities say a woman who fell to her death at the Padres’ Petco Park while holding her 2-year-old son died by suicide, according to ESPN’s Elizabeth Merrill. The child’s death was ruled a homicide.
Raquel Wilkins, 40, fell while holding her son, Denzel Browning-Wilkins, before a game between the Padres and Braves on Sept. 25.
Detectives working the case reached their conclusion after conducting 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,” per the statement. San Diego police do not plan on releasing any further information.
Wilkins and her son fell from a dining area to a sidewalk below on 200 Tony Gwynn Way, the equivalent of a six-story fall. The child’s father was also at the ballpark at the time.
Following the incident, police said the deaths “appeared to be suspicious” and intended to open an investigation. An attorney representing Wilkins’s parents and sisters expressed disappointment over lack of information on the investigation, and said a wrongful death lawsuit is pending against Petco Park and the city of San Diego.
