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An ‘erratic’ mother was arrested for allegedly stabbing her two young children to death in their New York City apartment – after cops missed the tots’ bodies during their first visit to the scene.
Dimone Fleming, 22, is suspected of knifing her three-year-old son, Deshawn and 11-month-old, Octavius, to death before concealing them in the bathtub in the Bronx.
Her family have revealed the mother thought her children were ‘devils’ and she would often talk about demons.
Police arrested Fleming, who was found ‘erratic and naked’ before they realized that the two youngsters had been stabbed multiple times in the neck and torso.
The horrific incident occurred at a third-floor apartment in a family shelter near in Mount Hope 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 Columbus Canada, who discovered his lifeless children in the filled bathtub, 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.
Dimone Fleming, 22, pictured with her eldest son Deshawn, 3, who was found lifeless along with his younger brother in the bathtub of their Bronx home. Police were initially called to the scene because of Fleming’s ‘erratic’ behavior. They removed her, but apparently did not realize that her sons were dead in the bathroom. It was only when the kids’ father arrived that the police were alerted to the children’s tragic deaths
Her family have revealed the mother thought her children were ‘devils’ and she would often talk about demons
Columbus Canada, the boys’ father, found them unresponsive in the bathtub after the police had already made a visit to the apartment and removed the mother
The community came together today after the tragedy on Saturday night
Octavius’ great aunt, Casey Canada, told NY Daily News that Fleming believed her children were ‘demons.’
She said: ‘She thought the kids were devils. She said she was afraid of them.
‘She definitely loved them for sure. That wasn’t fake.’
The 22-year-old mom 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.
She was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
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.
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.
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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.
‘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.
Tributes and candles were lit outside the apartment block where the two brothers were found dead
Efforts to resuscitate the children, however, were ultimately unsuccessful
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’
Their 22-year-old mother was taken into custody around 7:50 pm, police said, after revealing the arrest came about a half hour before the bodies were discovered
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
