Tot killed in toppled TV tragedy

During a morning funeral on Friday, March 16, a pair of grief-stricken Bayside parents laid to rest their nine-month-old baby, whom police believe was killed in a freak accident in their home.
On Tuesday, March 13 a television fell on the tot, Athanasios Holevas. Although he was rushed to New York Hospital Queens (NYHQ) after the accident, the baby was immediately listed in critical condition and died at about 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 14.
Police believe that the parents of the baby - nicknamed “Thanisi,” which is Greek for Tommy - were moving the 32-inch flat-screen TV when it accidentally fell on the toddler crawling underneath.
One neighbor couldn’t understand how the impact of the TV, which was positioned low in the family’s entertainment center, could have crushed the baby.
“It’s hard to believe that such a horrible thing happened,” said neighbor Bessie Lagudis. “And both parents were right in the room.”
Lagudis, who moved into the area in October, described the Holevas family - Greek immigrants Greg and Helen and their five boys ages nine through 16 - as very religious and friendly. Athanasios, with his blond hair and bright blue eyes, was the youngest of six.
“There are no words to describe the devastation that the family is going through,” Lagudis said.
Every Sunday, the Holevases attended service at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church of Flushing, where the older boys are altar servers. On Wednesday, March 14 the parents sent a priest from the Church to tell their other boys that Athanasios had died.
“[The family members] are all devastated. Everyone is in shock,” said family friend Niko Koutsogiannis, who has lived down the block on 196th Place from the Holevas family for 12 years.
“The mother and father, they do everything for their kids. I’ve never seen parents like them. For something to happen to people like them, it’s just terrible,” Koutsogiannis said. “No mother or father should have to go through this.”
In the closely-knit Greek neighborhood, Koutsogiannis said that neighbors, friends and relatives are trying their best to console the grief-stricken parents and plan to collect money for the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island in memory of Athanasios.
“This tragedy has touched so many lives,” said Lagudis, explaining that she and her neighbors have begun frantically childproofing their own homes. Lagudis’ husband bolted cabinet doors and broke apart her kids’ bunk beds.
On Friday, March 16 Lagudis said that she and Helen Holevas had planned to have a lunch and play date that very afternoon. Instead, both women attended Athanasios’ funeral.