NYC kids found stabbed to death were concealed in bathtub full of clothes: cops

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Senior News Editor since 2004



NYC kids found stabbed to death were concealed in bathtub full of clothes: cops​



By
Kevin Sheehan,

Joe Marino,

Tina Moore and

Jesse O’Neill


November 27, 2022 9:48am
Updated










The bodies of a toddler and baby that were found stabbed to death more than a half hour after police responded to a domestic disturbance in the Bronx Saturday had been concealed in a running bathtub under piles of clothes.
The young boys, identified by law enforcement sources as Deshawn Fleming, 3 and Octavius Canada, 11 months old, were found in the tub with “multiple stab wounds” to the neck and torso inside of a homeless shelter at 246 Echo Place in Mount Hope by their father just before 8 p.m., police said.
At 7:21 p.m., police and EMS workers responded to a 911 call that was most likely triggered by a carbon monoxide alarm in the third floor apartment, according to police and sources.
Police found the boys’ mother, identified by sources as Dimone Fleming, 22, naked and “acting irrationally” in the apartment, which was filled with noxious gas after she was lighting things on fire in the kitchen, police and sources said.
The young boys, ages 3 years old and 11 months old, were found in the tub with “multiple stab wounds” to the neck and torsoThe young boys, ages 3 years old and 11 months old, were found in the tub with “multiple stab wounds” to the neck and torso.Peter Gerber NYPD deputy chief Louis Deceglie speaking at the scene of 2 children fatally stabbed at 246 echo place in the BronxNYPD deputy chief Louis Deceglie speaking at the scene.Peter Gerber
Officials turned off the water to the running bathtub and took the unidentified woman to St. Barnabas Hospital. They did not notice that the slain children were concealed under the pile of clothes in the tub, according to police.




00:01 01:39
“There wasn’t anything obvious to suggest there were dead kids in there,” a police source said. “There was no blood.”


Before she left for the hospital, a family friend told cops that the woman’s children were with their father, police said.

Police found the boys' 22-year-old mother naked and acting irrationally in the apartment.Police found the boys’ 22-year-old mother naked and “acting irrationally” in the apartment.Miguel Baldino
The man, who was on the fourth floor of the building when cops were first called, made the gruesome discovery about 35 minutes later, and his desperate calls for help prompted neighbors to call 911 a second time, at 7:57 p.m., officials said.




see also​





2 children stabbed to death in Bronx apartment, mom in custody as ‘person of interest’​






Fleming was considered a person of interest in the horrific double murder, police said. Charges had not been filed against her Sunday morning.


The father of the children had been cooperative with investigators, telling them he had left the shelter housing on Friday after an argument with Fleming, and slept in his car that night, according to law enforcement sources.


He was first alerted to the initial 911 call when a friend told him the mother of his children was being taken from the apartment in an ambulance, the sources said.


Francis Pimentel, 30, a Pennsylvania resident who was visiting his mother for Thanksgiving at 245 Echo Place, told police he saw an agitated young woman outside the building Saturday evening.


“I was waiting for the taxi out front and I see this woman come out of 246 with [her] hands on the back of her head walk right into the street without looking. She was crazy!,” he recounted to The Post Sunday morning.


“She was walking and stopping, and turning around, and walking and stopping, with both hands on the back of her head! Saying, ‘What I did?!, What I did?!’ I went up to her and said, ‘Miss are you okay?’ and she stopped and looked at me, her face was crazy and then just kept walking back and forth stop[ing] and saying, ‘What I did?!, What I did?!,’” Pimentel recalled.


“I got in the taxi to go to the barbershop. When I came back the police were all here and they were bringing her out to the ambulance. Same woman. She went in an ambulance. Black woman 20s, maybe, 30s. I can’t believe it. I have two kids, my son [is] 4. My [other] son [is] 10. I’m so upset when I hear what she did.”


Neighbor Shannon Holyfield saw the boys’ father screaming and covering the two naked boys, covered in blood. She described the scene as “horrible and heartbreaking.”


“He was screaming hysterically,” Holyfield said. “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.

2 very young children apparently stabbed by their mother at 246 echo place in the Bronx.The boys’ mother was considered a person of interest in the horrific double murder, police said. Miguel Baldino
“They were dead. They were dead. There was blood everywhere, it covered them,” she continued.


“They are babies. The boys didn’t deserve that.”


Holyfield said the parents of the slain babies had been fighting earlier in the day.


A man who lives on the fourth floor of the complex told The Post he helped the panicked father pull the kids out of the tub when he found them, and noted that first responders and shelter staff initially “walked past” the stabbed children.


“I tried to give the little baby some air but it was too much,” the neighbor said.

2 very young children apparently stabbed by their mother at 246 echo place in the Bronx.The 911 call was most likely triggered by a carbon monoxide alarm in the third floor apartment.Peter Gerber
“It’s just sad,” he said. “I told [the father] to put him on the bed. The oldest one, I tried to give CPR, to give him air but it wasn’t working.”


Further life saving efforts on the tiny unidentified victims were unsuccessful. The medical examiner was set to determine their cause of death, police said.
 



2 children stabbed to death in Bronx apartment, mom in custody as ‘person of interest’​



By
Joe Marino,

Larry Celona,

Steven Vago and

Patrick Reilly


November 26, 2022 9:45pm
Updated






Two young children were apparently stabbed to death in a Bronx apartment Saturday night – and the boys’ mother is in police custody as a person of interest, cops said.
The young boys, ages 3 years old and 11 months old, were each found with “multiple stab wounds” to the neck and torso inside of an apartment building at 246 Echo Place in Mount Hope just before 8 p.m., Deputy Chief Louis Deceglie told reporters.
The boys’ 22-year-old mother had been taken into custody before the children were found dead earlier in the day, when police were called to the apartment on a report of a woman acting erratically and lighting things on fire in the kitchen around 7:20 p.m.
Police found the mother on the third floor of the building naked and “acting irrationally,” with the bathroom tub overflowing and flooding the building, cops said.
[IMG alt=" 2 very young children apparently stabbed by their mother at 246 echo place in the Bronx.
"]https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/two-ikely-to-die-including-11-month-old-boy-5.jpg?w=1024[/IMG]
“They were dead. They were dead. There was blood everywhere, it covered them,” a distraught neighbor said.Peter Gerber
She was taken into custody “without incident,” and was taken via ambulance to St. Barnabas Hospital for evaluation, where she arrived around 7:50 p.m., Deceglie said.
Before she left for the hospital, a family friend told cops that the woman’s children were with their father, police said.
Around 7:55 p.m., police received a second 911 call to the same location from the boys’ father reporting that the kids were found unresponsive, according to police and sources.
Police said one of the boys was found on the floor and another was found on a bed. They believe the kids were in the tub the first time they responded to the residence, sources said.
A fourth-floor resident told The Post he helped the panicked father pull the kids out of the tub when he found them.
“I tried to give the little baby some air but it was too much,” the neighbor said.
He said EMS, firefighters, shelter staff, cops “walked past” the kids the first time.
“It’s just sad,” he said. “I told [the father] to put him on the bed. The oldest one, I tried to give CPR, to give him air but it wasn’t working.”
A witness said she heard the panicked dad screaming “help me” as he carried the bloodied kids through the hallway.
Efforts to resuscitate the babies by a family member and responding officers were unsuccessful, cops said. The medical examiner will determine the cause of death, police added.
Video viewed by The Post shows EMTs performing CPR on the tiny bodies as they’re wheeled out of the building on stretchers. The children were transported to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where they were pronounced dead, according to police.
One of the children being evacuated from the scene of the stabbing as EMS crews attempted to perform life saving measures.One of the children was evacuated from the scene of the stabbing as EMS crews attempted to perform life-saving measures. Miguel Baldino
The children’s mother remained into custody as a person of interest. No charges have been filed at this time.
Police said there had been one previous call to the residence for a domestic dispute, however it was “several years ago.”
A neighbor who lives down the hall, Shannon Holyfield, said the boys’ parents were fighting earlier in the day.
Later, she heard the boys’ father screaming and saw him carrying the two boys, naked and covered in blood.
“He was screaming hysterically,” Holyfield said. “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.
A memorial was left outside outside of the building where the children were stabbed.A memorial was left outside of the building where the children were stabbed.Steven Vago
“They were dead. They were dead. There was blood everywhere, it covered them,” the distraught neighbor said.
“It’s horrible. It’s heartbreaking.’
Holyfield added “They are babies. The boys didn’t deserve that.”
Charlotte Obiri, 47, told The Post that she has known the boys’ mother for over a year and the two would spend time in the park together with the kids. She said she’s been sick to her stomach since she heard about the kids’ tragic ends.
“I’ve been crying. I didn’t see it coming. Genuinely what the f—k happened?” Obiri said.
“She never seemed distraught,” she said of the kids’ mom. “We’d be in the park and she’d put them on the swings. She never displayed no type of behavior like that at all.
“I don’t know what happened. Why did it come to this?” she added. “We just see her the other day. If you were in distress, bring those kids to us.”


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2 children in cardiac arrest at 246 echo place in the Bronx
The tots were stabbed in an apartment at 246 Echo Place in Mount Hope around 8 p.m., sources said. Peter Gerber

2 children in cardiac arrest at 246 echo place in the Bronx
The kids, believed to be 3 years old and 11 months old, were stabbed in the neck. Peter Gerber

2 children in cardiac arrest at 246 echo place in the Bronx
Two children were fatally stabbed inside a Bronx apartment Saturday. Peter Gerber



Obiri said that she had seen both the mother and father last week. The father said he was talking about changing shifts at his job.


The couple argued “once in a while” but the mother mostly kept to herself, neighbors said.


“I say she was quiet but whatever she had going on with herself she kept it to herself,” said Edwin Jones, 50, who lives on the fourth floor.


Others said the family was known for its arguments, with the mom known for outbursts.


“I found out the kids I watched growing up got stabbed to death,” said Queens resident Michelle Rivera, 23, choking back tears.


Rivera, who said she’s friends with the dad, last saw the family before Thanksgiving while they were arguing where to bring the kids for the holiday.


“There is always an argument, always a conflict,” Rivera said.
 
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