Mother Found Not Criminally Responsible in 2022 Killing of Two Sons Due to Postpartum Psychosis

A New York City mother was found not criminally responsible due to mental disease or defect by a Bronx judge Monday for the 2022 killings of her two young sons at a Bronx family shelter.

Dimone Fleming, 26, is accused of repeatedly stabbing her sons, Daishawn Fleming, 3, and Octavius Canada, 11 months, before submerging them in a bathtub inside an apartment in the Mount Hope area on November 26, 2022. She was 22 at the time of the killings and was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

The prosecution ultimately agreed that Fleming should not face a conventional criminal trial because of the severity of her mental illness. Psychiatrist Dr. Eric Goldsmith determined Fleming was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis, including hallucinations and delusions, and was “grossly psychotic and out of touch with reality,” according to the New York Post. She will avoid prison but remain in custody for psychiatric evaluations.

Fleming believed killing her children was necessary to protect or “cleanse” them, according to a forensic psychiatrist report commissioned by the defense, the outlet reports.

The ruling comes as a Massachusetts jury deliberates in the case of Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of killing her three children in 2023. Like Fleming, Clancy’s defense has argued that postpartum psychosis left her unable to understand or control her actions. Her jury began deliberating this week and had not reached a verdict as of Friday.

Fleming had received psychiatric treatment in the months before the killings. She spent two months at a Queens hospital, where she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and prescribed psychiatric medication. However, she did not take the medication as prescribed and instead used marijuana daily, which reportedly worsened her symptoms.

On the night of the killings, a shelter employee called 911 after noticing water and smoke coming from Fleming’s apartment. Police found Fleming “acting irrationally” and took her to a hospital for evaluation.

Officers initially did not realize the boys were dead. The children were buried under clothes in the bathtub, and a neighbor told police they were with their father.

Fleming’s then-boyfriend and Octavius’ father, Columbus Canada, later found the boys unresponsive inside the apartment and called police, according to The Post.

The mother allegedly confessed to killing her sons and made references to the “devil” while speaking with detectives, according to police sources cited by the outlet.

A finding of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect does not necessarily mean immediate freedom, and Fleming could remain in a psychiatric facility for an extended period depending on her condition and subsequent court decisions.

Her next court hearing is scheduled for September 18, when the results of those evaluations are expected to help determine her future.