Family, community mourn 8-year-old Brooklyn boy killed by planter box

MARINE PARK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A memorial service is being held at a Little League field in Brooklyn Friday for an 8-year-old boy who died when a concrete flower box fell on his head.

Kevin Reilly was playing in front of his Ryder Street home in Marine Park, apparently trying to climb up the window to get a basketball when he grabbed onto the planter box at the second floor.

"It's a terrible accident, actually," NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said. "A two-story home where this young fellow climbs up, looks like to get a basketball from a flower pot. He puts his weight on the flower sill, and it comes down on top of him."

Family, friends and neighbors turned out at the Gerritson Beach Little League field where he once played to honor his young life, cut tragically short.

The League posted condolences for the kid known at KJ on social media, saying "There are no words to say to help anyone feel better...This (is) going to hurt everyone in this community for a long long time to come."

The flower box was so heavy that witnesses said his mother couldn't even lift it off of him by herself and had to enlist the help of good Samaritans passing by.

Many homes on Ryder Street have identical concrete flower boxes just like it, leaving many residents wondering if theirs could fall as well.

"I don't have one," neighbor Michelle Diana said. "I would take it down after this for sure."

City inspectors from the Department of Buildings have visited the home, but it is unclear if they will inspect other homes in this neighborhood. Some say they should.

"They should definitely because there could be a terrible accident," neighbor Angela Marie Cosenza said. "They should inspect, see that they're firmly placed in place."

The DOB investigation into this incident is still ongoing.

"I think that this will definitely make them realize that it's not safe, and that they should make them take them down," Diana said.

Prior to this incident, the property had no complaints or violations.