A Bronx judge found a mother of two suffering from postpartum psychosis not guilty of killing her young children in 2022 — while jurors in Massachussets are in the middle of deliberating a similar fate for Lindsay Clancy.
Dimone Fleming, 26, was found not responsible by mental disease or defect in court on Monday for the deaths of her two children, 3-year-old Daishawn Fleming and 11-month-old Octavius Canada, at a Bronx family shelter, the New York Times reported.
On the night of the gruesome killings, Fleming was “grossly psychotic and out of touch with reality,” according to psychiatrist Dr. Eric Goldsmith.
Goldsmith, who evaluated Fleming at the request of the prosecution, said she was hallucinating, convinced that the world was coming to an end and believed a spirit had invaded her body.
Similarly, “Ms. Fleming believed her actions were necessary to protect or ‘cleanse’ her children,” according to a forensic psychiatrist report written by doctors hired by the defense.
Prior to the killings, Fleming had been treated at a Queens hospital for two months where she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and prescribed psychotropic medication, the Times reported, citing court records.
But the mother of two did not take her medication as prescribed and instead used marijuana daily — which reportedly exacerbated her mental health symptoms.
Mental examinations ordered by both the prosecution and defense determined Fleming was in a state of psychosis at the time of the bloody killings.
On the night of Nov. 26, 2022, a shelter employee called 911 on reports of water and smoke coming from Fleming’s apartment.
Police found Fleming “acting irrationally” and she was taken to hospital for evaluation.
Cops didn’t initially notice the slain boys buried under a pile of clothes in the bathtub when they took her away as a neighbor told police the young children were with their father.
Shortly after, Fleming’s then-boyfriend and father of 11-month-old Octavius, Columbus Canada, found the two young boys unresponsive in the apartment and called police.
Police sources told The Post at the time that Fleming allegedly confessed to killing her two young sons and made statements about the “devil” to detectives.
The then-22-year-old mother was charged with first degree murder.
In court this week, prosecutors said that trying Fleming double murder would not serve justice.
“Prosecuting mothers does not and cannot prevent these crimes from happening, but public discourse might,” Bronx assistant district attorney Tiffany Wichman told the publication.
“People talking about it is important, and I hope people continue talking about it,” the prosecutor said.
Fleming — who is not yet being released from custody — will be re-evaluated by court-appointed psychiatrists and is slated to return to court on Sept. 18.
The judge is expected to make a ruling on next steps and if she might still be a threat to others.
While she will avoid a prison stint, Fleming could likely remain hospitalized for months — if not years.
Canada, 35, was in court on Monday and told the outlet that he forgives Fleming for what she did four years ago.
“She’s a good person,” he said. “She was a loving person. She loved kids.”
Fleming’s case draws eerie parallels between Lindsay Clancy’s highly publicized Massachusetts triple-murder trial, where jurors are in the process of deciding the former labor and delivery nurse’s fate.
Clancy wants the jury to find her not guilty by reason of insanity on the grounds she was experiencing severe postpartum psychosis when she strangled her three kids and tried to kill herself — allegedly worsened by a slew of powerful psychiatric meds she was prescribed.
The post Judge finds NYC mom with postpartum psychosis not guilty of killing her 2 young kids appeared first on New York Post.
