Police are investigating what led a New York mother of four to drive herself and her children into the cold and murky Hudson River, killing herself and three of her kids.
The woman’s 10-year-old son managed to escape the submerged minivan and swim to shore after his mother drove into the river at around 8 p.m. Tuesday, officials said.
Authorities said during a press conference Wednesday that 25-year-old Lashanda Armstrong, of Newburgh, N.Y., had just been involved in a domestic dispute before she loaded her children into the vehicle and drove them into the river.
“We are talking about a tragedy in this city that I would say is probably second to none,” Newburgh Mayor Nicholas Valentine said. “The whole scene surrounding what occurred in Newburgh last night will have a lasting effect on this city.”
Officials said the 10-year-old boy managed to open the minivan’s window and swim to shore. The boy was picked up by a passerby, authorities said, and was able to alert firefighters at a nearby fire station.
Divers searched for the minivan for about an hour before finding it submerged in 8 feet of water about 25 yards offshore, Newburgh Fire Chief Michael Vatter said. Inside the vehicle were two boys, ages 5 and 2, and an 11-month-old girl. Everyone inside was dead, Vatter said.
Armstrong lived about six blocks from where she and her children perished. The domestic altercation occurred about 10 minutes before the woman drove into the river.
Officials said Wednesday they had “no comment” on whether the mother suffered from mental illness. They said they had located the father of the children and were questioning him.
(Source: Fox News)
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8 Responses
While these situations are perplexing, to say the least, I am wondering if these incidents are done by people of prescription drugs suffering from side effects. The pharmaceutical companies are getting away with murder, literally, whether they tell you the dangers up front, or not. No one should be allowed to bring a product to market with such dangerous possibilities as those items put out by Big Pharma. Too big to care??
Paranoia. Can we blame the pharmaceuticals for that as well?
Once we are blaming pharmaceutical companies we might as well blame the local Pet shop…but seriously- the medications are a tzricha! Peaople are mamish suffering and need those meds. Are we supposed to just let the sick and insane just suffer?
#1. What? You know nothing about the situation and this is what you come up with? Was it even necessary to comment. How about just commending the 10 year old for having the presence of mind to do what he did. Nebech, he must have been terrified.
MoshiachNow01 – What evidence is there to support your soap box oratory? As long as we are going into irrelevancies….why not speculate she was distraught over her guy losing his job and the family losing social safety net benefits in this era of mean spirited conservative ascendancy? (Ever notice how programs to benefit the lower-income are now labeled “unsustainable,” while lowering revenue streams never are? Lenin and the Communists were totalitarian monsters…but Marx was right!)
25 year old mother, 10 year old child. Do the math.
Why is this article important enough to be posted on YWN? Not everything that goes on in NY deserves to be mentioned on this website.
It may well be that something in the altercation left her with an uncontrollable desire to have the father live with the knowledge that he caused her to do this. This was her way of proving a point. She must have taken great pains to bring up those kids and was willing to destroy everything just to teach the father a lesson.