Three-year-old girl dies during Disneyland holiday

The family of a three-year-old girl who fell to her death from a balcony at Disneyland has reached a settlement with the hotel chain, ending a wrongful death lawsuit.

Stephanie Martinez was on the balcony of a fifth floor walkway at the Embassy Suites hotel in Anaheim, California when she fell to her death in 2015.

The toddler had spotted relatives in a courtyard on the first floor and appeared to think that she could jump down from the balcony to reach them, climbing over the rail to do so.

It was at this point Martinez’s mother, Alejandra Sandoval Duran, emerged from their hotel room, where she had been showering, and spotted her daughter hanging over the side of the balcony.

Duran’s scream reportedly startled the three-year-old, causing her to let go of the rail and fall to her death.

Martinez was rushed to hospital but died shortly afterwards, cutting the family trip to Disneyland short in the most heartbreaking way imaginable.

After the incident her parents lodged a wrongful death lawsuit against the Embassy Suites hotel chain, claiming “dangerous, defective and unsafe” conditions were to blame for their daughter’s death.

The suit specifically targeted the hotel’s owners and the property management company, alleging that it was negligence that had allowed the tragic event to occur.

Details and terms of the settlement have yet to be released, however they may become public after the agreement is brought before a judge at a scheduled Los Angeles Superior Court hearing on 17 January.