Friends and family yesterday mourned a vibrant and happy 6-year-old girl who accidentally strangled herself with the most common of children’s playthings – a jump rope.
“She was a normal 6-year-old girl – a happy girl,” said a neighbor who declined to give her name. “The family is doing as well as you can expect.”
Najiyah Roberts, who was visiting her grandparents’ home in Springfield Gardens, Queens, was last seen alive around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when she went to play with her jump rope.
She tied the rope to a doorknob inside the two-family house on 120th Avenue.
About a half-hour later, said cops, her grandmother found Najiyah’s body on the floor with the rope around her neck.
Cops said the medical examiner declared the death to be accidental.
A relative said Najiyah will be sent home to Virginia for a funeral.
Ropes, rope swings and similar items are the leading killers of children using playground equipment at home, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says.