A mother was arrested after her two young children were discovered stabbed to death in a New York City apartment, as neighbors heard the children’s father yelling for help.
Saturday around 7:20 p.m., the horrifying tragedy occurred in a unit in a family shelter near Mount Hope. On arrival, emergency personnel discovered the three-year-old and 11-month-old deceased.
The children were stabbed many times in the neck and torso, and the boys’ “erratic, nude” mother was detained as a suspect.
Their 24-year-old mother was arrested around 7:50 p.m., police said in a late-night press conference, indicating the arrest occurred just half an hour prior to the discovery of the dead.
Officers were dispatched to the property after receiving a complaint at 7:20 p.m. about a woman’s ‘erratic’ behavior. According to authorities, upon arrival they saw a naked woman in the kitchen setting fire to everything.
The woman was taken into custody without incident and transported to a local hospital for evaluation despite her odd behavior.
Minutes after authorities left, the boys’ father discovered the two toddlers motionless in the bathtub of apartment, and summoned officers back a second time about 7:55 pm.
Before their arrival, neighbors assisted the father in removing the boys from the tub and unsuccessfully reviving them.
According to authorities, they were transferred to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where they were confirmed dead.
The unidentified mother is currently in custody as a person of interest, Deputy Chief Louis De Ceglie of Patrol Borough Bronx stated Saturday at 11 p.m. outside of 238 Echo Place.
“When officers got at the third-floor flat, they saw a 24-year-old woman acting irrationally while naked,” Chief De Ceglie told reporters outside the building.
De Ceglie stated that the initial information received by cops warned of a ‘female behaving erratically but non-violently’ and armed with no weapons.
The officers arrested the female without incident and awaited the arrival of the ambulance.
De Ceglie stated that the woman was 24, but a previous police announcement stated that she was 22.
Due to the boys’ bodies being concealed in the bathtub at the time of the officers’ initial visit to the residence, it is believed that they were overlooked.
Upon discovering his sons’ brutally murdered bodies, the boys’ father, who has also not been identified, issued an emotional cry for assistance before the second arrival of the police.
This call was apparently heard by a neighbor on the fourth floor, who assisted the distressed father in removing the children from the tub and administering CPR when he discovered them.
The neighbor, who requested anonymity when speaking to The New York Post, described the events that transpired in the thirty minutes between the woman’s detention and the sons’ declaration of death.
“I attempted to give the small infant some air, but it was too much,” the neighbor told the newspaper, adding that police officers and other emergency personnel “walked past” the children the first time they were present. ‘It’s just sad.’
Another witness told the site that she heard the father desperately yell “help me” as he carried the sons’ wounded bodies through the building’s corridor during the disturbance.
Police reported that efforts to resuscitate the youngsters were eventually unsuccessful, despite being administered by the neighbor and an unidentified family member.
According to authorities, the medical examiner will identify the cause of death.
The statements of neighbors at the Bronx public housing complex imply that the murders may have been the culmination of a domestic quarrel that was known to the family.
Shannon Holyfield, who resides in the same building as the family, stated that the boys’ parents had argued earlier in the day.
She stated that she heard the father of the boys crying and saw him carrying their nude, bloodied bodies.
They had died. They had died. Holyfield stated to The Post that there was blood everywhere and that it covered them.
The neighbor characterized the murders as “horrifying” and “heartbreaking.”
They are infants. The youngsters did not merit it.’
Several years ago, according to the police, there had been a previous call to the residence for a quarrel.
Other neighbors, such as 47-year-old Charlotte Albi, acknowledged that the couple argued ‘sometimes,’ but stated that the mother stayed to herself for the most part. No one offered a name for either member of the family.
Albi stated of the children’s mother, ‘She never seemed distressed.’ When we were in the park, she would put the children on the swings. She never exhibited any behavior similar to it.
“I have no idea what happened. Why did this happen?’ she asked. “We just saw her a few days ago. If you are in trouble, bring those children to us.’
The mother, who has not yet been labeled a formal suspect, remains in detention as a person of interest in the case. There have been no charges filed.
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