PHOENIX — The 4-year-old daughter of boxer Mike Tyson died at a hospital on Tuesday, a day after her neck apparently got caught in a treadmill cord at her Phoenix home, police said.
PHOENIX — The 4-year-old daughter of boxer Mike Tyson died at a hospital on Tuesday, a day after her neck apparently got caught in a treadmill cord at her Phoenix home, police said.
Exodus Tyson had been on life support and police have said their investigation showed her injury on Monday was a "tragic accident."
"There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Exodus," the family said in a statement. "We ask you now to please respect our need at this very difficult time for privacy to grieve and try to help each other heal."
Police said Exodus either slipped or put her head in the loop of a cord hanging under the console. Her 7-year-old brother found her and told their mother. She took Exodus off the cord, called police and tried to revive her.
Responding officers and firefighters performed CPR as they took the girl to the hospital.
Former heavyweight champion Tyson was in Las Vegas at the time of the accident and flew on Monday to Phoenix.
The family’s home is in a modest, quiet neighborhood. Neighbors say they saw Tyson there from time to time and the children played outside regularly.
Dinka Radic, who lives across the street, says the little girl would ask her if she had any chocolate in the house. When Radic would get some and give it to her, Exodus would hug the woman’s knees and "kiss, kiss, kiss."
"She’d say ‘hi’ to everybody. She was really friendly," said Abdul Khalik, 53, who lives next door.
He said Exodus rode her bicycle in the neighborhood and often played with his two children and his niece. He said his 14-year-old daughter had cried all day after hearing of Exodus’ death.
Ben Brodhurst, 20, who lives across the street, said Exodus’ and her family went trick-or-treating at his house the last couple of Halloweens. She was "very lively, very enjoyable to be around," he said.
The neighborhood contrasts starkly with the lavish lifestyle Tyson had through his tumultuous years of boxing, when he spent tens of millions of dollars and says he had millions more stolen from him by unscrupulous associates. During two years at the height of his career, he earned $140 million.
The death of his child in such an unusual accident adds an awful chapter to the boxer’s troubled life.
Tyson first began boxing in a facility for juvenile delinquents in upstate New York at the age of 12. Eight years later, he became the youngest heavyweight champion ever when he knocked out Trevor Berbick in 1986. But in 1990, he was defeated by James "Buster" Douglas in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, and soon after was convicted of raping a beauty pageant contestant in Indianapolis.
Tyson, who still denies he raped the woman, served three years in prison.
As his career continued, so did his bizarre behavior. He bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a boxing match and once threatened to eat the children of heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.
Although Tyson’s children had lived in their unassuming neighborhood for several years, he purchased a separate home in the posh Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley in 2005 for $2.1 million, selling it two years later for $2.3 million.
In November 2007, Tyson spent 24 hours in Maricopa County’s jail after pleading guilty to one count of cocaine possession and one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence. Police found the drug when they pulled over Tyson’s car after he left a Scottsdale night club.
At Tyson’s sentencing hearing, nearly a year after the arrest, his attorney David Chesnoff said his client had taken 29 drug tests without a relapse and was attending Alcoholic Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
"He’s tried his hardest," Chesnoff said, "despite coming from almost impossible beginnings."
Associated Press Writers Bob Baum and Terry Tang contributed to this report.
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In photo: St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical center is seen Tuesday, May 26, 2009, in Phoenix, where 4-year-old Exodus Tyson, daughter of former boxing champion Mike Tyson, was pronounced dead a day after her neck apparently got caught in a treadmill cord while she was playing at home, police said. Police have said their investigation showed her injury was a "tragic accident."
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