BRONX MOTHER FOUND NOT CRIMINALLY RESPONSIBLE AFTER KILLING HER TWO YOUNG SONS.(PHOTO).

  Bronx Mother Found Not Criminally Responsible After Killing Her Two Young Sons

A Bronx judge has found 26-year-old Dimone Fleming not criminally responsible by reason of mental disease or defect for the 2022 deaths of her two young sons after psychiatric evaluations concluded that she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis at the time.

In November 2022, police found 3-year-old Daishawn Fleming and 11-month-old Octavius Canada with multiple stab wounds in a bathtub at a family shelter in the Bronx.

Psychiatric evaluations conducted for both the prosecution and defence reportedly concluded that Fleming was experiencing a severe break from reality when the deaths occurred.

Experts said she had experienced hyperreligious and paranoid delusions, hallucinations and a serious mental breakdown that had begun during her pregnancy.

Because both sides agreed that Fleming was unable to understand the nature and consequences of her actions at the time, she did not face a conventional criminal trial or a prison sentence.

However, Fleming has not been released. She remains in custody while undergoing further psychiatric evaluations to determine her long-term treatment and placement in a secure mental health facility.

The case has also drawn attention to postpartum psychosis, a rare but potentially devastating medical emergency that can cause severe delusions, hallucinations and a loss of contact with reality.

Mental-health advocates have used the case to highlight the need for better access to maternal mental-health care, early intervention and support for women experiencing severe psychiatric symptoms during pregnancy and after childbirth.