10-year-old Florida boy hangs self after being sent to room

[News_Editor]

10-year-old Florida boy hangs self after being sent to room

2011-04-20 00:53:44 GMT+7 (ICT)

TAMPA, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) -- A 10-year-old boy from Florida was found dead in his room on early Monday evening after he apparently hung himself with a game system cord, police said on Tuesday.

The apparent suicide happened just before 6 p.m. local time at a house in Tampa after the boy was sent to his room for a time out for misbehaving. "After approximately 45 minutes, his mother went to check on him and found him hanging by the neck from the shelving unit in the closet," said Laura McElroy, a spokeswoman for the Tampa Police Department.

McElroy said the boy, who was identified as Tyriq Ammons, had apparently fashioned a noose from a game system cord. "A neighbor began chest compressions until police arrived and began CPR," she added.

Tampa Fire Rescue arrived at the scene just after 6 p.m. local time and transported the child to St. Joseph's Hospital. "The victim never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead by attending doctors at St. Joseph's Hospital," McElroy said.

Police said a preliminary autopsy report is consistent with suicide, but an investigation is continuing.

Suicides among 10-year-olds are extremely rare, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which showed 11 suicides among 10-year-olds in 2007. "It's very rare for someone that young to commit suicide, [but] it does happen," the CDC said on Tuesday.

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