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Atty: Security Guards 'Did Nothing' As 12-Year-Old Brooklyn Boy Was Crushed By Gate

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The attorney for the family of a Brooklyn boy who was crushed while playing on an electric parking lot gate said more should have been done to keep kids away.

Attorney Alberto Ebanks said security guards weren't watching Sunday when 12-year-old Yakim McDaniels was killed.

He was playing on the gate with a group of kids when he somehow became stuck and his upper body was crushed between the rolling metal gate and the frame.

"Security guards basically did nothing," Ebanks told 1010 WINS. "They're sitting there playing cards. They're playing guards, they never responded. You have the Fire Department and the NYPD responding before the security guards who are on the premises."

Ebanks said the building should have done more to keep kids away from the gate.

"They should have had a security guard posted there, basically to make sure that they could somehow manage the process if they did not think taking the gate out of service was a real option for them," he said. "But to do nothing, this is real tragic."

Ebanks said the family is planning to sue the property management company, Reliant Realty. The company told 1010 WINS they would not comment on the attorney's  allegations.

The owners of the building, Omni New York, said that they will be removing the parking lot gate. They have also agreed to pay for McDaniels' funeral.

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