Two young New York boys, ages 3-years old and 11-months old, were stabbed to death in the Bronx Saturday night, and police say their mother is in custody.
Police say the homicides happened at a family shelter on Echo Place in the Mount Hope section of the Bronx, where the boys were found with multiple stab wounds to the neck and torso.
The woman, who was found naked, ranting and setting fires in the apartment, was expected to be charged in their deaths, a senior law enforcement official said.
She was identified as 22-year-old Dimone Fleming by the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The older child was named 3-year-old Daishawn and the 11-month-old baby was Octavius, Octavius’s grandfather said.
Police first responded to an initial 911 call just before 7:30 p.m., when they found the mother inside the apartment on the third floor acting erratically. Sources say the mother then tried to burn the apartment down with the stove and then turned the water on.
Frances Pimemtel crossed paths with the mother outside, and says she was repeatedly saying ‘what I did.’
Police say the mother, who is a person of interest in the deaths, was taken to the hospital for evaluation and remains in custody.
Just 10 minutes after officers left, the boys’ father returned and discovered the two children unresponsive in the apartment, and called officers back a second time around 7:55 pm.
Before their arrival, neighbors helped the dad pull the boys from the tub, which was filled with water and covered with a bed sheet, and attempted to resuscitate them.
Less than an hour later, a second 911 call was received, this time reporting two unresponsive children at the same location. Officers returned to the apartment where they found the boys with stab wounds.
Neighbors who live down the hall say they heard the parents of the two young boys arguing and screaming earlier in the night. They also heard the boy’s father crying for help.
“He was screaming hysterically. He was screaming, ‘Help me!’ And I came and opened my door and I see him coming down the hall with the two boys in his arms. They were dead, they were dead. There was blood everywhere,” neighbor Shannon Holyfield said.
Officers and another family member attempted to resuscitate the boys, who were rushed to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where they were declared dead.
“It’s something that they are going to have to live with and think about probably for the rest of their lives. We have very experienced police officers. I think they are the best. They are able to handle and cope with any situation,” NYPD Deputy Chief Louis De Ceglie said at a news conference Saturday evening.
A memorial was started outside the shelter Sunday morning in memory of the two young victims. Friends and family are rallying around the father of the 11-month-old. He said he is not ready to talk, but says he does want the truth out there as the mother of the kids undergoes a psychiatric exam.
Right now friends and family are rallying around the father of the 11th month. He tells me he’s not ready to talk but does want to the truth out there as the mother of the kids undergoes a psychiatric exam.
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