A New York mother who suffered from postpartum psychosis has been found not guilty in the deaths of her two young sons after a judge accepted an insanity defense.
Dimone Fleming, 22 at the time, was accused of repeatedly stabbing her children — 11-month-old Octavius Canada and three-year-old Daishawn Fleming — before submerging them in a bathtub on November 26, 2022, according to The New York Times.
On Monday, Judge Audrey Stone ruled in Bronx Criminal Court that Fleming, now 26, was not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect.
The ruling comes amid heightened attention on another closely watched postpartum mental health case: the trial of Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy, who has raised a similar defense in the killings of her three children.
As in Clancy’s case, Fleming had been receiving treatment for depression and anxiety before her children died, court records obtained by the NYT show.
At the time, Fleming was working at a concession stand in Queens while living with her two sons in a shelter in the Mount Hope section of the Bronx.
Doctors had diagnosed her with major depressive disorder and prescribed psychotropic medication as part of her treatment.
But Fleming was using marijuana daily instead, a pattern that worsened her symptoms, according to the records.
Dimone Fleming, 22, was charged with first-degree murder in the killings of her two young sons, three-year-old Daishawn Fleming (pictured) and 11-month-old Octavius Canada, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity
Prosecutors said Fleming repeatedly stabbed her two young boys and submerged them in a bathtub in November 2022
Fleming’s case has drawn parallels to that of Massachusetts mom Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of murdering her three children but has put forward an insanity defense
Psychiatrist Dr Eric Goldsmith, who evaluated Fleming at the prosecution’s request, wrote in a report that the mom-of-two was ‘grossly psychotic and out of touch with reality’ on the night she killed her sons.
Goldsmith said that Fleming was hallucinating and thought the world was coming to an end.
She also believed that a spirit had invaded her body, according to the psychiatrist.
A forensic psychiatric report written by doctors from the defense said Fleming thought her actions ‘were necessary to protect or cleanse her children.’
Fleming was naked from the waist up and holding a children’s book upside down while sitting on a bed when police found her in the shelter, according to prosecutors.
Unlike Clancy’s case, prosecutors did not aggressively pursue conviction, although Fleming was originally charged with first-degree murder.
‘Prosecuting mothers does not and cannot prevent these crimes from happening, but public discourse might,’ Tiffany Wichman, a Bronx assistant district attorney, said.
‘People talking about it is important, and I hope people continue talking about it.’
Fleming’s lawyer, Jodi Morales, called the result of the case ‘a result of collaboration.’
Fleming was hallucinating and thought the world was about to end, according to a psychiatrist who evaluated her at the prosecution’s request
Fleming’s children were not initially discovered dead by police, they were found by one of the boy’s father
‘Everybody recognized what we were dealing with here,’ she said. ‘That doesn’t happen often when you’re on opposite sides of the table.’
Fleming allegedly stabbed her kids with kitchen shears and covered them with a sheet after placing them in the bathtub.
Police were called to the shelter shortly before 7.30pm after an employee noticed smoke and water emanating from Fleming’s apartment after she left a faucet running and the stove on.
The two children were initially not discovered and Fleming was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx for treatment.
However, Columbus Canada, Octavius’ father and Fleming’s boyfriend at the time, found the kids when he returned home later that night.
Canada was in court on Monday and said he forgave Fleming, who he called a ‘good person,’ according to the New York Times.
‘She was a loving person,’ Canada told the outlet. ‘She loved kids.’
Clancy’s murder trial will return to deliberations on Monday. She is pictured in court on August 28
Clancy strangled her children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, in January 2023, and then attempted to take her own life
Going forward, Fleming could be held at a high-security hospital for an initial six months.
That would be extended indefinitely if her condition does not improve.
Should doctors find her to be mentally ill but not dangerous, she could also be sent to a more open hospital for further evaluation.
Fleming could also be discharged if she is found to be mentally fit. However, the court would likely place conditions on her freedom.
Fleming confirmed that she understood the proceedings in court on Monday.
She is expected to return to court on September 18 after being evaluated by court-appointed psychiatrists.
Fleming’s case drew comparisons to Clancy’s murder trial, which will return to deliberations on Monday.
Clancy’s defense team has argued that she suffered from postpartum psychosis when she killed her children and unsuccessfully tried to take her own life.
Judge William Sullivan allowed the jurors to go home for the weekend after they failed to reach a verdict following two days of deliberations.
The jury asked to see the knife that Clancy used to try to take her life, as well as bags of pill bottles found in her home, on Friday.
Postpartum psychosis afflicts roughly one to two per 1,000 women after delivery, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Our News Outlet has reached out to Fleming’s lawyer, Morales, and the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office for comment.
