Fresh Airport Surveillance Video Shows 3-Year-Old Boy’s Fatal Fall From Escalator

Freshly obtained video footage showed chilling details of a 3-year-old boy falling to his death from an escalator at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina back in September while playing with his sister.

The surveillance video footage extracted from three different cameras was released Wednesday by WSOC-TV.

The video showed Jaiden Samir Cowart, along with his sister, playing on the staircase of a moving escalator near the baggage claim at the airport on Sept. 25. The siblings were seemingly unsupervised by an adult for almost an hour. Cowart's sister grabbed the handrail and it started carrying her upward. Cowart held onto his sister and followed her. The duo then apparently lost their grip on the handrail and fell in the gap between the escalators.

A painting contractor was able to catch the little girl but failed to catch Cowart and he suffered life-threatening injuries, WSOC reported.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers responded to the scene around 9 p.m. to find Cowart lying in "a large pool of blood" after falling 20 feet to the ground, ABC News reported.

Paramedics rushed to save Cowart and transported him to a hospital, where he died on Sept. 28, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, said.

Jiterria Lightner, their mother who was charged with three counts of misdemeanor child abuse Nov. 19 following his death was nowhere to be seen near her children in the one-hour long video footage, police said. However, her attorney, Michael Greene claimed that she was watching over her children from 10-15 feet away while arranging for a ride back home, WBTV reported. The unfortunate incident happened when they returned to North Carolina after a trip from Florida.

"Unfortunately, at this particular location there was no barrier that was forbidding a young child, any kind of attractive nuisance from coming in and playing in between those areas," Green told NBC Charlotte. "This wasn't an instance where she was not paying attention to her children."

He frowned upon the unrestricted gap between the escalator and the stairs which can pose safety hazards to children.

"We are committed to and constantly reviewing safety and risk. We review any and all recommendations and take appropriate measures," airport officials said in a statement.