Construction Worker Falls to Her Death from High-Rise West Palm Condo

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A 23-year-old construction worker fell to her death from a 13th-floor balcony of a condominium complex in West Palm Beach, police said.

Delores Yamileth Martinez-Ponce worked for a flooring company and was installing flooring at the La Clara condominium construction site when she fell at around 9 a.m. Saturday, police spokesman Mike Jachles told news outlets. He said the circumstances of her fall weren’t immediately clear.

“For reasons we don’t know, she apparently fell off of that balcony,” Jachles said. She fell to the second floor and died at the scene, he said.

In a news release, police said Martinez-Ponce lived in Miami-Dade County and worked for Jovavesa Corp., which is a subcontractor on the building project. The case site for the Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims does not show any workers’ compensation claims against the company, nor any contested claims involving Martinez-Ponce.

The police department’s homicide unit is investigating the death, he said. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also expected to review the death.

The site was home to the 1515 Tower condo for decades before a controlled implosion brought the building down in 2010, the Palm Beach Post reported.

Construction began on the 25-story La Clara condominiums in 2019, with completion expected by spring 2023, the newspaper reported.