COURTESY WILLIAM COPULOS Two-year-old Ashli Alcala-Romero, center, is recovering after falling Sunday from the fourth floor of a Nuuanu apartment building, a family attorney said yesterday. Ashli is shown here with her parents, Robyn Romero and John Alcala.

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2-year-old doing well
after 4-story fall

An attorney representing the family of a 2-year-old girl who fell through a fourth-story railing said the toddler is doing well, and blamed management of the Nuuanu apartment building for the allegedly defective railing.

"Preliminarily, it appears that the railing was in a dangerous condition and that building management knew or should have known of that condition," said William Copulos, representing Ashli Alcala-Romero and her family.

Alcala-Romero, of Nuuanu, remains at the Queen's Medical Center in stable condition and is recovering from internal injuries that she suffered from the fall Sunday night.

Copulos said the girl is out of the intensive care unit and did not suffer any significant head trauma or broken bones. He would not discuss the details of her internal injuries.

"It is nothing short of miraculous that Ashli, despite falling four stories and landing on concrete, is in stable condition and is recovering from her injuries," Copulos said. "She is talking. She is doing well."

According to police, Alcala-Romero's 22-year-old baby sitter said she had attempted to bring the toddler back into the apartment when the girl was running up and down the fourth floor's open-air corridor. The baby sitter told police that the toddler resisted and started kicking the railing when one of the bars popped out. The baby sitter also told police that the railing bar had been broken for months.

The bar struck Alcala-Romero on the arm when she lost her balance and fell through the railing.

Ashli's parents, Robyn Romero and John Alcala, asked for privacy as their daughter recovers, Copulos said.

"The family is committed to holding those that are responsible for the unsafe condition to account. It is their strong desire that no one else endure what they have endured as a result of this incident," he added.

Harris Zane, buildings property manager of Urban Real Estate Co., could not be reached for comment. Resident manager Ed Geraldo would not comment.

Attorney Dean Ochiai, who is representing the owners of the building, said the resident and property managers had told him they were not aware of any railing problems.

"The railings are continuously maintained and repaired," said Ochiai, who recently visited the building. "You could see a constant maintenance in place."

"I could see there had been repairs in the past," Ochiai said of the building.

Records show the building, built in 1972, is owned by the Richard Y.H. Mew Trust and the Stella N. Mew Trust.

"This is the first time anything like this ever happened at the building that I'm aware of," Ochiai said.

"We're looking into the matter. We're very concerned. We wish the child a speedy recovery and that she recovers fully," he said. "Everybody here feels terrible about it."

Ochiai said they are still gathering information about the incident.

"At this point we know for a fact that no one had complained about that particular area. We are still befuddled as to how this accident happened," he added.