Mother held after sons fatally stabbed

NEW YORK — A Bronx woman was in custody Sunday after her two sons, aged 3 years and 11 months, were found fatally stabbed in the neck and torso in a bathtub in a family shelter Saturday night, police said.

The woman, who was found naked, ranting, and setting fires in the apartment, was expected to be charged in the deaths, a senior law enforcement official said. She was identified as Dimone Fleming, 22, by the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.The older child was named Daishawn and the baby was Octavius, Octavius’s grandfather said.

Police were first summoned at 7:20 p.m. to the family shelter on Echo Place in the Mount Hope neighborhood after a 911 call about an emotionally disturbed person. But they left without finding the children, who were in the bathtub, covered with a sheet or towel, police said. A second call half an hour later about the children brought police back to the scene, where the bodies were discovered.

The law enforcement official said when police first arrived, they were confronted with a chaotic scene, with Fleming burning objects on the stove and belongings strewn everywhere.

Fleming has a history with the city’s child welfare agency, the Administration for Children’s Services, but few details were available, the senior law enforcement official said. The agency filed a case shortly after her older son was born that she was not able to care for him, but it was not clear whether he was ultimately removed. ACS said it was investigating the case.