Friday, March 29, 2024

Woman falls from sixth-floor of Case Hall lounge

March 25, 2012

Alexandra Pew, an 18-year-old high school student from Ann Arbor, fell from a sixth-floor window of North Case Hall about 3 a.m. Sunday morning, according to police and student reports.

Pew, a high school senior at Greenhills High School was visiting friends who lived in the dorm at the time of the incident. Many students on the sixth floor said they heard it was an accident that occurred while Pew was playing catch with friends in the study lounge.

After the fall, Pew was taken to Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital, where she is in fair condition, spokeswoman Laura Hall said. She did not specify the extent of Pew’s injuries.

MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said the incident continues to be under investigation. A statement from MSU Police said there have been no signs of suspicious activity in the investigation.

Jason Matney, a biosystems engineering freshman who was with Pew at the time of the incident, said it was incredibly lucky she survived, but declined further comment.

“It was honestly a miracle,” he said. “That’s all I can say.”

After the incident, James Madison College freshman Emily Rice woke up to sirens. When she looked out the window of her second-floor dorm, she was horrified to see broken glass and a person lying on the ground outside.

“She was right there on the ground,” Rice said. “(My roommate and I) could see she fell from the sixth floor, the window was broken and glass was everywhere.”

Rice said although she was scared for the young woman’s life, she was reassured that police already had responded to the scene and was happy to hear Pew was in good condition.

After no-preference freshman Karina Drachman heard what sounded like breaking glass, she rushed to her dorm room window and saw Pew lying on the ground under the tree outside her window.

Drachman then went to the study lounge where Pew was visiting friends and again saw her motionless on the ground.

“At first, I thought that she was dead or paralyzed, but she did end up moving,” Drachman said. “That gave me a lot of hope.”

During the time he lived in a dorm on the sixth floor in South Neighborhood, MSU alumnus Jeff LaPalme said he was always concerned of the potential safety hazards the windows posed, especially when they were open and only a screen separated students from a long drop to the lawn or pavement located below.

“This has cemented all of my fears of two years of living on the sixth floor,” LaPalme said. “People can’t go making assumptions of safety.”

Rice said she believed the incident was merely an unfortunate freak accident and wasn’t sure anything could be done to prevent future incidents such as this from happening other than repairing the window and making sure the material used is as strong as it can be.

The study lounge where Pew fell currently is locked and has not yet been repaired.

Staff writer Beau Hayhoe contributed to this report.

Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Woman falls from sixth-floor of Case Hall lounge” on social media.