T4 发帖数: 273 | 1 NEWBURGH, N.Y. 鈥A woman upset with the father of her children packed her
four youngsters into her minivan and drove into the frigid Hudson River,
killing everyone except her 10-year-old son, who managed to roll down a
window of the sinking vehicle and swim to shore.
The dead youngsters ranged in age from 11 months to 5 years.
A relative had called police Tuesday night to report a dispute at the home
of Lashanda Armstrong, 25. Shortly afterward, she drove off a boat ramp
several blocks away from her apartment in this struggling city 60 miles
north of New York City.
Officials believe Lashaun Armstrong, 10, hit the button on a power window to
escape from the driver's side as the minivan began to sink in the 45-degree
water. Fire Chief Michael Vatter said the vehicle went under within two
minutes.
"He got out of the car, got up onto the boat ramp, turned around and it was
gone," Vatter said.
A passer-by found a soaked and cold Lashaun Armstrong along the shore and
took him to a firehouse for help. The boy was so distraught that he had
difficulty talking but ultimately told firefighters what happened, the fire
chief said. Rescuers went immediately to the river.
Divers searched for about an hour before finding the minivan submerged in 10
feet of water about 25 yards from the shore. They used a tow truck to pull
it up the ramp. Everyone inside was dead.
Killed along with Lashanda Armstrong were Landon Pierre, 5, Lance Pierre, 2,
and 11-month-old Laianna Pierre, police said. Lashaun is staying with his
mother's sister Angela Gilliam and "doing fine," she said.
Armstrong appeared stressed-out when she picked up the children Tuesday at
the Young and Unique Christian Development Child Care, said Shaniesha
Strange, supervisor in the infant room.
"The only thing she'd say was that she was so alone," Strange said. "She's a
single parent. She takes great care of her kids, goes to school and works.
She really needed a helping hand."
The man police identified as the father of the three dead children, Jean
Pierre, was questioned. Police would not give details. He apparently didn't
live with the mother and children and could not immediately be located for
comment.
Hetty Minatee, another teacher at the day care center, said Armstrong had
enrolled the four children there in September. At first Jean Pierre would
come in with Armstrong and sometimes would pick up the kids.
"A couple weeks ago, she came in a little upset," Minatee said. "She said, '
Miss Minatee, I don't want the father to pick the kids up or have any
contact with them.' She said she was trying to get a court order so he could
never see the kids again."
Gilliam called Newburgh police on Tuesday night after getting a call from
her brother. By the time police reached the apartment, Armstrong and her
children were gone.
"She was a good mother. She was going through some stuff," Gilliam said. "
Nobody knows what my niece went through." She would not elaborate.
Police said there was no history of domestic violence at the address.
Neighbors in the city of about 30,000 said the children seemed energetic and
happy and would play on the block and ride bikes.
"She was a very good mom," said Tina Claybourne. "She took care of her kids.
She always was with her kids."
Mourners immediately created a memorial of stuffed animals and flowers at
the boat ramp.
The deaths were reminiscent of the case of Susan Smith, the South Carolina
woman who drowned her two young sons in 1994 by sending her car into a pond.
She initially claimed she had been carjacked. She is serving a life
sentence. |
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