Deaths of woman, 2-year-old son at San Diego Padres' Petco Park ruled suicide, homicide

A woman who fell to her death at Petco Park while holding her toddler son last September died by suicide, according to a San Diego Police Department statement Wednesday. Authorities ruled her 2-year-old son's death a homicide.

San Diego residents Raquel Wilkins, 40, and her son, Denzel Browning-Wilkins, fell around 3:50 p.m. on Sept. 25 as baseball fans were heading into the stadium for a San Diego Padres game.

«Detectives conducted a thorough and comprehensive investigation that included dozens of interviews, reviewing of available video footage, and collecting background information to determine what led to the deaths,» the San Diego police statement said. «In consultation with the San Diego County Medical Examiner, Raquel Wilkins' death has been classified a suicide and Denzel Browning-Wilkins' death has been classified a homicide.»

The woman and boy were pronounced dead at 4:11 p.m., about 20 minutes after police were alerted. The pair fell from a dining and concessions area on the third-floor concourse — the equivalent of six stories high — to a sidewalk below on Tony Gwynn Drive, police said. The child's father was also at the ballpark, police said.

In a previous statement, San Diego police officials called the deaths «suspicious,» and the department's homicide unit was called to investigate. At least one witness told a San Diego news outlet that Wilkins had jumped on a bench and was laughing before losing balance and falling.