At 3?! No. Maybe as a teen, but not as a toddler. I don't know of any 3 year old who says "Sure mom, I'll just tag along.".
Nope. You said: "It is NOT safe to let a child wander off in an environment that you have no control over."
The child did not "wonder off." He was FIVE FEET AWAY. That's why your make believe scenario has nothing to do with this case.
I NEVER wandered more than a foot from my mother. Unless you have arms like a gorilla, five feet away is a bit far to be reaching for a kid. I happen to be five feet tall, I could never reach five feet away unless I laid myself out on the floor.
If a 3 year old can pull it over, then, no, it wasn't secured.
Why sit around & find that out the hard way? If the kid was being watched, he wouldn't have had the chance to try it out.
Baseless assumption.
Not really. If she had her eyes on the kid, she would've seen what he was doing. If she had seen what he was doing, she could've stopped him. If she could've stopped him, we wouldn't be discussing this now.
You don't know that. there is a 3rd scenario possible that everyone laying blame on either the mother or WalMart fail to grasp........it could have just been a freak accident that is NO ONE'S FAULT.