CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Nearly a year after a toddler was crushed by a falling mirror at a Clayton County shoe store, 11Alive has learned the business has moved to remove them from other Clayton County stores, and other locations nationwide.
Ifrah Siddique was killed March 2018 after a mounted mirror at the Payless Shoe store off GA-Hwy 85 in Riverdale fell on the 2-year-old girl. Police investigators said the death appears to be an accident.
Ifrah's family believe the mirror was not secured - held up only by "one screw." They said it was so heavy her mother and another family member could barely pull it off her.
"It was not secured at all," Aqib Iftkhar, the toddler's cousin, claimed. "I think there was one screw that was put in."
'We're in shock': Child killed in tragic Riverdale shoe store accident
In light of the new development, Mohamad Ahmad, a lawyer for Siddique's family said they were "disturbed" to learn that Payless would seek to destroy "crucial evidence of their gross recklessness." However, a lawyer for Payless says removing the mirrors from the stores was part of the plan all along.
"The CEO of Payless went to the Siddique home after the incidence to express condolences to the family, and promised to remove all similar mirrors from all stores nationwide to ensure this would not happen again," the attorney said in a statement.
The attorney said that the mirrors from the store in question were removed and are being stored in Norcross. He also said the mirrors will be in court at trial and that the "evidence has been preserved and not destroyed."
Meanwhile, Ahmad said they planned to immediately notify the Court of the "concealment" and would seek to have a full investigation to ensure any and all evidence would be preserved.
"This news is a haunting reminder of how an infant’s life could have been spared with a simple change that Payless failed to make," Ahmad concluded.