A young mother described by relatives as obsessed with demons has been charged with murdering her two young sons after their bodies were found in the bathtub of their apartment in a Bronx homeless shelter.
Dimone Fleming, 22, was charged with two counts of murder Sunday for allegedly stabbing her three-year-old son, Deshawn, and 11-month-old Octavius to death at the shelter Saturday evening on Echo Place near the Grand Concourse in Mount Hope.
The boys – who had initially been missed by authorities called to the apartment – were found submerged in water, hidden underneath clothing and stabbed numerous times. It is not clear if they died by stabbing or drowning.
The children were discovered by Octavius’ father, Columbus Canada, 31, who had been staying in a car parked outside the subsidized housing building after getting into a fight with Fleming the night before.
Cops had arrived to the apartment more than a half hour before after receiving reports of an unnamed woman acting erratically, but did not discover the children stashed in the bathtub, despite the domicile being in a shelter designated for families.
Instead, they found Fleming lying naked on the bed with the oven on, with the home partially flooded, neighbors said, to the point where it reached out into the hallway.
Despite this, officials missed the boys’ bodies. Fleming was taken to a nearby hospital for psychiatric evaluation, and was arrested as a person of interest. She remained there Monday morning when charges were announced.
Dimone Fleming, 22, was charged with two counts of murder Sunday for allegedly stabbing her three-year-old son, Deshawn, and 11-month-old Octavius to death at the shelter Saturday evening on Echo Place near the Grand Concourse in Mount Hope.
Accounts from relatives and neighbors suggest Fleming had been succumbing to the pressures of parenthood, and had been talking obsessively about ‘demons.’
The children were discovered by Octavius’ father, Columbus Canada, 31, who had been staying in a car parked outside the subsidized housing building after getting into a fight with Fleming the night before.
Accounts from relatives and neighbors suggest Fleming had been succumbing to the pressures of parenthood, and had been talking obsessively about ‘demons’ while looking increasingly disheveled and downcast.
Harrowing post on social media, some just hours before the bloodbath, further show the mom’s questionable mental state in the buildups to the killings – and saw Fleming beg for mercy and begin ‘repenting’ for her ‘wrong doings [sic].’
At 6am on the morning of her massacre, Fleming, better known as Brenda, wrote online: ‘It’s only one true God and I repent from all wrong doings and negative influence. Leaving all things that’s no longer serves me…Thank you for your mercy.’
Shortly after, Fleming shared a quote about parents in which she reanted about parents and their inherent responsibility to protect their children.
‘I want my children to always know … if the relationship ain’t working COME HOME! If the bills become overwhelming COME HOME! If you feel unsafe COME HOME! If something don’t feel right COME HOME!’ the post, written by another Facebook user and reshared by the mom Saturday morning, said.
‘I want my kids to always know they can come home … I never believed in the saying ‘they 18 they grown.’
Police arrested Fleming, who they said was found acting ‘erratic’ before they realized that the two youngsters had been stabbed.
The mother-of-two posted the harrowing update online – just hours before she allegedly killed her own children
Shortly after, Fleming shared a quote about parents in which she ranted about parents and their inherent responsibility to protect their children
The horrific incident occurred at a third-floor apartment in a family shelter near in around 7:20pm on Saturday. Emergency services were called to the scene twice – and only on the second trip did they find the young children dead.
Witnesses living in the building told DailyMail.com they saw the frantic mother holding her head and screaming: ‘What did I do? What did I do?’ in the hallway just moments before the police first arrived.
The children’s father, meanwhile, told police had been in an argument with Fleming the day before. He left the home a day prior and had stayed in his car overnight, DailyMail.com understands.
Fleming, who has not yet been declared an official suspect, remains in custody as a person of interest in the case. No charges have been filed.
Octavius’ great aunt, Casey Canada, told NY Daily News that Fleming had grown increasingly unstable since birthing her first kid three years ago, and had come to believe her children were ‘demons.’
She told the paper: ‘She thought the kids were devils. She said she was afraid of them.
‘She definitely loved them for sure. That wasn’t fake.’
Fleming was taken into custody around 7:50pm after officers initially were sent to the residence after receiving a call complaining about her erratic behavior.
Upon arrival, police said, they found a woman nude in the kitchen lighting objects on fire. They stayed at the scene for 30 minutes before taking her into custody – apparently not realizing that the children were dead in the bathroom.
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.
The community came together today after the tragedy on Saturday night
Tributes and candles were lit outside the apartment block where the two brothers were found dead
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, DailyMail.com understands.
They were were transported to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where they were pronounced dead, according to police.
The mom is currently in custody as a person of interest, Deputy Chief Louis De Ceglie of Patrol Borough Bronx said Saturday at 11 pm outside the building at 246 Echo Place.
Their 22-year-old mother was taken into custody around 7:50 pm Saturday night, police said, after revealing the arrest came about a half hour before the bodies were discovered
Efforts to resuscitate the children, however, were ultimately unsuccessful
‘Officers arrived and found a 22-year-old female naked inside of the apartment on the third floor acting irrational’,’ Chief De Ceglie told reporters outside the building.
De Ceglie said the initial report received by officers had warned of a ‘female acting erratic, but non-violent,’ with no weapons.
‘The officers took the female into custody without incident, and awaited the response of the ambulance.’
Officers were thought to have missed the boys’ bodies upon their first stop at the home, due to them being stashed in the bathroom at the time of their response.
At some point after before cops arrived a second time, the boys’ panicked father made an impassioned plea for help upon discovering his sons’ bodies.
The children were found dead in the room on the police’s second visit of the evening
The building at 246 Echo Place provides public housing to low-income families. Neighbors recounted the horror that unfolded as the father ran through the hallways with the boys’ bloodied bodies asking for help
Police were called to the building on Saturday afternoon
Officers were thought to have missed the boys’ bodies upon their first stop at the domicile, due to them being stashed in the bathroom at the time of their response. Officers had initially received a complaint of a woman ‘acting erratic’
That call was reportedly heard by a neighbor a floor above on the fourth-floor, who helped the distraught dad pull the kids out of the tub when he found them and administer CPR.
Efforts to resuscitate the children, however, were ultimately unsuccessful, despite being administered cops said.
The eldest son’s godfather, who is also friends with the children’s dad, told DailyMail.com that he was among those trying to revive the tots during the ordeal.
He said that the children were already bloodied and he ‘knew they were dead’ but attempted to aid as much as he could.
Police found one of the children on the bed, and the other on the floor in the apartment.
The medical examiner will determine the cause of death, police said.
Members of the community gathered in the Bronx on Sunday following the horrific news
Police waiting outside the apartment block on Saturday evening
