A 3-year-old South Florida girl who died four days after she was found with her head stuck inside a toy kitchen play set while at a babysitter’s residence died from “probable positional asphyxia,” officials said.
A report written by the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office was obtained by the Sun Sentinel and WPEC.
Positional asphyxia occurs when a person becomes trapped in a position that interferes with the ability to breathe, WPEC reported.
Briella Holmes and her 4-year-old sibling were at their babysitter’s home in the Meadow Lake subdivision in Boynton Beach on July 23, according to the newspaper.
According to a news release from the Boynton Beach Police Department last month, officers responded to a residence shortly after 11 a.m. ET on July 23. The girl was not breathing when she was discovered by her babysitter’s spouse, the Sun Sentinel reported.
She was taken to an area hospital in critical condition but died on July 27, police spokesperson Chelsea Sanabia said in a statement.
[ Toddler dies after head became stuck in toy kitchen set at babysitter’s home ]
Investigators said the girl and a sibling were staying at a babysitter’s residence, WPEC reported. According to the police news release, the babysitter left the home and left the children in the care of their spouse.
The spouse stayed upstairs in the residence while the children were playing but was “periodically checking” on them and “giving them snacks,” police said.
At one point, the spouse came downstairs and discovered the girl’s head was stuck inside a hole in the kitchen play set, the Sun Sentinel reported.
The girl’s sibling told police that the toddler became stuck while trying to reach toys that had fallen into the play set, the Sun Sentinel reported.
A 3-year-old who was found with her head stuck in a kitchen play set at her babysitter’s home in Boynton Beach last month died from positional asphyxia, an autopsy determined. https://t.co/vEbLIoUlZw
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) August 20, 2026
The babysitter is not named in the Medical Examiner’s Office reports, according to the newspaper. Her husband could not be reached for comment.
Boynton Beach Fire Rescue took the child to an area hospital in critical condition. She was pronounced brain dead four days later, according to the Sun Sentinel.
The girl’s manner of death was ruled an accident, according to the autopsy report.
Holmes’ mother declined to comment when contacted by a reporter earlier this month, the newspaper reported.
The Boynton Beach Police Department released a photo of the play set and said there was nothing on the toy identifying its brand, the Sun Sentinel reported. Similar sets are sold online, and Sanabia said earlier this month that the play set in the Boynton Beach resident’s home had been bought second-hand through Facebook.
“This investigation remains active and ongoing,” the Boynton Beach Police Department said in a statement, according to WPEC. “The Boynton Beach Police Department will not be making any additional statements at this time.”
“Briella was a bright light in the lives of so many,” Holmes’ family wrote on a GoFundMe page for funeral and memorial costs. “She had a kind heart, a beautiful spirit, and a smile that could light up any room. She touched countless lives with her love, laughter, and compassion, and the impact she made will never be forgotten.”
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