Accident trial

Mother of dead Dominik faces imprisonment

Candles at the scene of the accident in Linz commemorated the terrible accident.(Bild: Lauber/laumat.at Matthias)

In March, a five-year-old in Linz fell to his death from his window in the children's room on the fourth floor. Now his mother (36) and her boyfriend (39) are on trial for gross negligence manslaughter. They were allegedly out for a walk at the time of the accident.

On March 3, the world collapsed for a small family in Linz: That afternoon, Dominik (5) climbed up to a window in his nursery, probably leaned too far out and lost his balance - and fell to his death from the fourth floor - the "Krone" reported. When the mother (36) found out about her son's accident, she collapsed.

Adults out for a walk during the accident
Four and a half months later, she now has to answer to the court on Tuesday, together with her boyfriend (39), who is not the biological father of the boy who died in the accident. The two adults were allegedly out for a walk at the time Dominik fatally fell from the window.

At least that is what the prosecution accuses them of. The 36-year-old mother and her boyfriend are said to have locked the door to the children's room and then been out for about an hour. However, the window was apparently not adequately secured. The public prosecutor's office therefore suspects grossly negligent homicide. The two defendants face up to three years in prison.

It was the first of three window collapses in Upper Austria this year. In Weyer and Niederthalheim, the children (18 months and four years) survived the accidents.