Baby and toddler stabbed to death in Bronx apartment; mother taken into custody for observation

BRONX, NEW YORK — Two small children died of stab wounds after their mother was taken into custody for observation Saturday night in New York City, police said.

A 3-year-old boy and an 11-month-old boy were found in a Bronx apartment with multiple stab wounds to the neck and torso and did not survive after being transported to a hospital, police said.

The 24-year-old mother of the children had been taken into custody and transported to a hospital less than an hour earlier after acting erratically at an address on Echo Place in Mount Hope.

The mother was not arrested and the children’s father was not taken into custody, Deputy Chief Louis De Ceglie of Patrol Borough Bronx said during a press briefing late Saturday.

Officers responded to a report of a “female acting erratic, but non-violent, with no weapons” around 7:20 p.m., De Ceglie said.

NYPD held an update Saturday night:

Police were told a woman was trying to burn items in the kitchen and found her in the third-floor apartment “acting irrational,” De Ceglie said.

She was taken into custody without incident until the arrival of an ambulance, which transported her to St. Barnabas Hospital for evaluation at about 7:50 p.m. Before leaving for the hospital, officers were told by a family friend that the children were with their father, De Ceglie said.

A 911 call at 7:55 p.m. for the same location reported two children were not breathing. He said officers returned to the apartment and found the boys with multiple wounds.

“He was screaming hysterically. He was screaming, ‘Help me!’ And I came an opened my door and I seen him coming down the hall with the two boys in his arms,” neighbor Shannon Holyfield said. “They were dead. They were dead. There was blood everywhere, covered them.”

De Ceglie said officers and a family member tried to resuscitate the children while awaiting an ambulance, which took them to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where they died.

“Despite the officers’ best efforts, both children succumbed to their injuries,” De Ceglie said.

Police had a “person of interest” in custody and were continuing the investigation, he said.

“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.