VALLEY STREAM, New York (AP) -- A 3-year-old boy choked to death while eating popcorn at a movie theater.

Deontea Riley, of New York City, was at the Sunrise Multiplex Cinemas in Long Island's Valley Stream watching "Alien vs. Predator" with his parents and older brother when he began to choke shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday, Nassau County police said.

The family all had been eating from a small tub of popcorn when Elaine McIntosh, the boy's mother, saw that her youngest son was choking.

His parents rushed him out of the theater where they performed the Heimlich maneuver without success.

"I was trying everything," his father, Eddie Riley, told the Daily News in Tuesday's editions. "I was trying to put my finger down his throat. I didn't feel anything."

Police arrived shortly afterward and tried to clear the boy's mouth and perform CPR, but he was pronounced dead at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre.

His body was taken to the Nassau University Medical Center morgue pending a medical examiner's report.

Choking can be prevented. Before your child begins to crawl, get down on his level and look for dangerous items. If you have older children, pay extra attention to their toys and be sure your younger child can't get into them. In addition to thoroughly childproofing your home, keep this list of choking prevention tips in mind:

• Learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (basic life support).
• Be aware that balloons pose a choking risk to children of any age.
• Keep the following foods from children until 4 years of age:
  • Hot dogs
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Chunks of meat or cheese
  • Whole grapes
  • Hard, gooey, or sticky candy
  • Popcorn
  • Chunks of peanut butter
  • Raw vegetables
  • Raisins
  • Chewing gum
• Insist that children eat at the table, or at least while sitting down. They should never run, walk, play or lie down with food in their mouths.