11-year-old dies after choking on marshmallow, falling in Somerset

SOMERSET, Mass. — A Massachusetts girl has died after choking on a marshmallow at a birthday party.

Police and a school official say that 11-year-old Azriel Estabrooks died at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence on Friday morning.

She had been there since she was found unconscious at a friend's birthday party on Saturday.

"Someone didn't find her in time. Someone didn't realize she was choking on the damn marshmallow," her mother said.

Her mother, Iris Estabrooks, has said that about an hour after she dropped her daughter off, she got a call from the hosts saying Azriel had passed out.

"It was over just like that. Dropped her off at the party. Not even an hour later she gets a call, 'your daughter is unconscious, unresponsive,'" a family friend, Linda Melanson said.

She says no one found her until she was passed out on the floor, and no one realized she was choking.

When rescuers arrived, they found a marshmallow lodged in the girl's throat.

"The EMTs or the paramedics said that she possibly choked on a marshmallow, nobody even knows what happened," Melanson said.

Friends have been making posters for her and others have been dropping off flowers for the family. Now, all the heartbroken family has is each other.

"I'm going to be there to help them get through it. I'm not gonna leave their side," said Melanson.

Police have not identified the hosts.

You can donate to her fund here.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group