Deaths in Petco Park plunge are ruled suicide and homicide
A San Diego woman intended to kill herself and her son when they plunged 60 feet from a Petco Park concourse, a police investigation has concluded.
Raquel Wilkins, 40, was holding her 2-year-old son, Denzel Browning-Wilkins, when she went over the railing at the Padres game Sept. 25 and fell to the sidewalk outside the stadium.
Witnesses said she had been jumping on the bench of a picnic table in the open-air eating area — with one observer saying she had seemed “happy, laughing.”
The child’s father was with them at the time.
In a news release Wednesday, San Diego police homicide Lt. Andra Brown said the investigation had included dozens of interviews and review of surveillance video. She said the department planned no further comment on the case.
An attorney for Wilkins’ family told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the police had not explained to the family how the conclusion of suicide/homicide had been reached. He speculated that the police are trying to shield the city from liability in the deaths.