Of course the responsibility lies with the adult ultimately - AND can you imagine the horror and guilt this poor mother must feel?
From reading your comments I felt that you had a basic feeling that this was an out of control child.... the boy may NOT have been that way at all - we have no idea of the situation as it happened - I think it's ridiculous the way that folks here have jumped to total conclusions regarding the way this mother was parenting.
I have 2 "boys" ... which are really young men now - the older was EASY ... by nature a rule follower - the younger NOT so - (by the way he wore the same harness and leash that I wore as a toddler...). Even with the harness - even keeping him "IN" the cart... even watching him closer than you could ever imagine ... there were "incidents" that I'd beat myself up over.. Kids are different - even with the same parents... even with discipline.
That said - we still don't know if this little guy was a rule follower or a rule breaker. We don't know if he somehow "caused" the mirror to fall - or if it was not secured properly ... or if it had defective bolts. The bottom line is there's a little boy dead - I would imagine a grieving mother ... and we have folks here shaking their finger ... saying "My kid would NEVER do that" ... sheesh...
Yes! I can. Horrible at the least.
I would not want the mother of this child to see some of the comments on this forum (even some of mine).
From reading your comments I felt that you had a basic feeling that this was an out of control child....
Guilty. Yes, Recent observations in the mall, grocery stores, etc. have led to my way of thinking. I've see every day actions by small children that could get them hurt (and that I'd have gotten my tail busted for), while no parent could be found even near the child, or worse, while the parent is talking on the dang cell phone!.
Add to that, out of control law suits that we all wind up paying for.
There are many factors that can make me, or anyone, sound cold hearted when posting. Or, I could just be getting intolerant with age (50 or so *cough* *cough*).