MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A teenager died after falling from the ninth floor of a high-rise condominium building in Miami Beach, police said.
Samuel Farkas, who would have turned 16 Wednesday, fell off a balcony at the La Costa condominium on Collins Avenue, Miami Beach police said.
According to a police report, Farkas was locked out of his condo unit on the eighth floor, so he went to the condo directly above and tried to climb down to get to No. 801.
"It appears that the deceased lost his grip and fell from the ninth floor unto the mezzanine floor," the report said.
Farkas was pronounced dead at the scene.
The police report shows that Farkas lived at the condo with his mother, but it wasn't known whether she was there at the time.
Police Chaplain Rabbi Mark Rosenberg told Local 10 News that Farkas' mother is struggling to grasp the loss of her son.
"What they are going through is total shock. They can't come to grips that this could actually happen," Rosenberg said. "She was extremely distraught. She was speechless. She was in total shock."
Rosenberg said Farkas' yarmulke was found in his pocket at the scene.
"The first thing we took out of his pockets was his yarmulke," Rosenberg said. "I guess he didn't want it to fall when he was lowering himself, so he stuck it into his shorts pocket."
Miami Beach police Officer Ernesto Rodriguez said no other information regarding the death investigation was immediately available.