Last Friday night at 8 p. m., 3-year-old Eugene Wallace and his parents were inside the Metro PCS Store on East Fowler Avenue. At some point while his parents shopped for a cellular phone.

According to the police report, Eugene hadn’t eaten much that day, but his mother reported that it did not seem anything was wrong.

Police said Eugene was running around like normal children do when the manager asked the mother to stop the child from running. At that point, the mother held Eugene next to her side. About 10 seconds later, Eugene collapsed and hit his head on the lower part of the counter. He stopped breathing, CPR was started, and Tampa Fire Rescue arrived and continued the efforts while transporting him to the hospital.

Hospital officials said Eugene never regained consciousness and was later pronounced dead.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident, and Woody’s Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements. Eugene would have turned 4 years old on August 15th.