Vance County boy killed after brick mantel falls on him

Jay'den Baskerville had moved into the home on Birch Street, just outside Henderson, with his parents and two younger sisters only three weeks ago. Their landlord put them in the house after a fire damaged their apartment a block away.

Jay'den had been on an Easter egg hunt at church Saturday afternoon but was back at home with his sisters, ages 3 and 5, when the accident happened, his great-grandmother, Shirley Venable, said Wednesday. He was trying to get his remote control truck off the mantel when it broke free from the wall, she said.

Bricks toppled onto Jay'den's head and chest. His father quickly scooped him up and put him in the car, and his mother drove to the nearest hospital.

"Daddy, I can't breathe," Jay'den told his father, who was holding him in the car, Venable said.

Jay'den died before they could reach the hospital.

"He died in his daddy's arms," Venable said.

The family is now living with relatives, but Jay'den's Ninja Turtles bicycle is still propped up on the porch of the Birch Street house, and the basketball net where he shot hoops with the neighborhood children hangs across the street.

He was "the most outgoing" of the kids, Venable said.

Jay'den's funeral is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Mitchell Baptist Church in Warrenton.