Tears flow as mother visits site where baby fell

(George Rizer/Globe Staff)

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

The grief-stricken mother of 9-month-old Jordani Rivera wept and wailed as she paid a visit this morning to the sidewalk shrine in Roxbury that marks where the baby fell to his death Thursday.

“Oh my God, my son, my son, my son,” Carmen Rivera said in Spanish after arriving in a car driven by other family members. “Why? Why? Why? Why did you go?” she said in Spanish.

Rivera added a picture of her son to the shrine, which includes candles, stuffed animals, and photos. She was ushered back into the car and driven away.

The boy fell four stories from an open window at the Cunard Street apartment. He was later pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center.

Police said the baby’s mother was en route to the Dominican Republic when the baby fell at about 10 a.m. His father, Michael Tejada, was caring for him. Police are investigating how the baby fell, looking into where Tejada was at the time and whether he was watching the child.

Rachel Momon, 40, of Bangor, Maine, a mother of 9-month-old twins, said she had been inspired by news reports to drive to Boston.

“It touched me,” she said through tears, as she placed a stuffed animal at the shrine.

Other people stopped by the shrine throughout the morning. Someone had placed a handwritten sign there, saying, “We will never forget you, little angel. God bless you, sweetheart.”

It was the first time in eight years that a child has died after falling from a window in Boston.

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