1-year-old girl rescued after fallen tree traps her in DeKalb home

Ashlee Johnson clings to her 1-year-old daughter, Aasha “Cupcake” Johnson, who was rescued from their DeKalb County home after a tree trapped her inside her bedroom.

By Asia Simone Burns and John Spink

A 1-year-old girl was rescued from a DeKalb County home Thursday morning after a tree fell on her bedroom, breaking through the ceiling just feet above her crib.

The tree ripped through the roof and brought down drywall at the home on Scarborough Lane, the child’s mother told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ashlee Johnson said she was forced to watch the room crumble as she waited for help to arrive.

“I was terrified,” she said. “I just thought ‘that tree is going to fall on my baby.’ That’s all I was thinking.”

The tree ripped apart a roof of the DeKalb County home. Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Johnson said she was startled awake about 6 a.m. by a loud “boom.” When she opened her eyes, she saw insulation and wood falling around her. Johnson said her 4-year-old son, Amias “Ace” Johnson was in bed with her at the time.

“So I jump up, I look at him, and he’s OK,” she said. Johnson then rushed to the bedroom where her toddler, Aasha “Cupcake” Johnson, had been sleeping.

Insulation and drywall littered the hallway leading to Cupcake’s room.

“That’s when I noticed it was a tree,” Johnson said. “Before I thought maybe it had just rained all night and the roof caved in. I realized it was a tree when I got to her room.”

Heavy rain and storms earlier in the week have left much of metro Atlanta soaked. Since Monday, DeKalb-Peachtree Airport has recorded about 2 inches of rainfall.

Johnson began shoving on the door to Cupcake’s room, but it wouldn’t budge. She finally pushed the door open enough to see that the massive tree was blocking access to her daughter.

Ashlee Johnson said she stopped pushing on the door to her daughter’s room after she realized a hole in the ceiling above her crib was widening. She had to wait for help from DeKalb County fire crews.

Johnson said through the crack in the doorway, she could see that the walls of her child’s room were still crumbling. Part of the tree had torn through a wall above Cupcake’s crib, she said.

Johnson stopped pushing the door out of fear that shoving it any further would cause it to come crashing down.

“I’m watching the hole get bigger and it’s literally right above her crib,” she said.

The fallen tree brought down drywall and sent insulation flying through the DeKalb County home. Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

The incident comes within a year of her husband’s death, Johnson said.

“Had I lost my baby after losing my husband,” she said, tearfully. “I was terrified”

The mother called 911 and tried to coax her toddler out of her crib and toward the door. Emergency responders arrived at the scene within minutes and cut door open to get Cupcake out of the collapsing bedroom. Soon, the child was back in her mother’s arms.

“I just cried,” Johnson said. “I was just so scared that something was going to happen to my baby. I’m thankful to the DeKalb County fire department for getting her and giving me my baby.”

The American Red Cross of Georgia will be assisting the family with temporary lodging, clothing and food. Meanwhile, Johnson said she’s happy that her both her children are safe.

“We are going to go try to take a bath and try to get this insulation off of us,” Johnson said.

Read the original story on AJC.com.