Bronx Mom Not Guilty in Sons' Bathtub Deaths
Bronx Mom Not Guilty in Sons' Bathtub Deaths
The News
A Bronx judge has found Dimone Fleming not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect for killing her two young sons at a family shelter in November 2022, accepting that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
The ruling means no prison. Fleming is headed for the civil commitment track instead, and how long she is held will depend on what psychiatrists say about the danger she poses.
Psychiatrists hired by both the prosecution and the defense agreed she was psychotic at the time of the deaths.
Timeline
Fleming's two young sons are killed at a Bronx family shelter. She stabbed the boys and submerged them in a bathtub, according to accounts of the case in the New York Post, The Post Millennial and the Daily Mail.
Fleming, 22 at the time, had been going to the Floating Hospital in Queens for about two months for treatment of anxiety and depression symptoms, the Daily Mail reported. Court records cited in the coverage say she had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, was prescribed psychiatric medication she did not take as directed, and that daily marijuana use worsened her symptoms.
The judge issues the not-responsible finding. Dr. Eric Goldsmith, the psychiatrist retained by prosecutors, described Fleming as "grossly psychotic and out of touch with reality."
Fleming is due back in Bronx Criminal Court for the results of a psychiatric evaluation.
Reactions
Bronx Assistant District Attorney Tiffany Wichman defended the outcome, saying "Prosecuting mothers does not and cannot prevent these crimes from happening, but public discourse might."
The coverage split hard along ideological lines. The Gateway Pundit led with "NO PRISON" and the blunt line "Two little boys are dead." The Post Millennial framed it as a successful postpartum defense. Center-left outlets including The Independent and The Boston Globe framed the ruling as mental health law working as written.
What's Next
The September 18 hearing determines where Fleming goes. She could be held at a high-security psychiatric facility for at least six months, and potentially far longer, depending on the psychiatric findings. Any eventual release would come with court-imposed conditions.
More
The verdict landed while a Massachusetts jury was deliberating in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, another mother whose defense rests on postpartum psychosis — a parallel drawn by nearly every outlet covering the Bronx case.
Postpartum psychosis affects roughly 1 to 2 women per 1,000 after delivery, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
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