'We're all going to die together,' mom says before plunging into river
New York (CNN) -- Moments after the mother of four young children allegedly plunged her minivan into the Hudson River, she expressed second thoughts about killing herself and the children, according to the woman's 10-year-old son, police said Thursday.
The 10-year-old, Lashaun Armstrong, escaped the sinking minivan Tuesday and was the sole survivor in an incident that left his mother and her three other children dead.
Hoisting himself out of the van's driver-side window, Armstrong swam to shore and was picked up by a passer-by who took him to a nearby fire station in Newburgh, New York, 60 miles north of New York City, Fire Chief Michael Vatter said.
The boy said that as the vehicle sank in the Hudson's murky waters, his mother began to have second thoughts, according to Police Lt. Pat Arnold.
He apparently said the same thing to Meave Ryan, the woman who first found him.
Ryan, who was driving by when she spotted the wet and shivering boy, said he told her that his mom was frantic and very upset because her boyfriend was cheating on her.
Armstrong said the mother climbed into the back seat of the minivan, embraced her four children and repeated several times, "If I am going to die, we're all going to die together."
But when the van plunged into the water and began to sink, his mother tried to climb into the vehicle's front seat, saying, "Oh, God, I've made a mistake," Armstrong said Thursday.
Police divers later discovered the bodies of Lashanda Armstrong, 25, an 11-month-old girl, a 2-year-old boy and a 5-year-old boy 25 yards off shore.
A police investigation into the incident suggests that the mother intentionally drove the vehicle into the water, according to Newburgh Police Chief Michael Ferrara.
It took responders an hour of searching, using dive teams and a circling helicopter, to find the van submerged in 8 feet of water, according to Vatter.
Before the incident, a relative called police reporting a "domestic disturbance" that police say may have involved Armstrong's husband, Jean Pierre.
That belief is based both on a phone call the relative received in which the relative reported hearing "tussling in the background," and a history of domestic problems in the family, police said in a statement released Wednesday.
Authorities declined to identify the relative.
Police said Thursday that they have ruled out potential criminal charges against Pierre, the father of the children who died.
Newburgh Mayor Nicholas Valentine said the incident is certain to have "a lasting effect on this city."
A neighbor, Christine Santos, said she "would never have imagined (Lashanda) to do this to her kids."
"To them little babies. I would have never have imagined. I'm in shock," she added.
'We're all going to die together,' mom says before plunging into river - CNN.com
New York (CNN) -- Moments after the mother of four young children allegedly plunged her minivan into the Hudson River, she expressed second thoughts about killing herself and the children, according to the woman's 10-year-old son, police said Thursday.
The 10-year-old, Lashaun Armstrong, escaped the sinking minivan Tuesday and was the sole survivor in an incident that left his mother and her three other children dead.
Hoisting himself out of the van's driver-side window, Armstrong swam to shore and was picked up by a passer-by who took him to a nearby fire station in Newburgh, New York, 60 miles north of New York City, Fire Chief Michael Vatter said.
The boy said that as the vehicle sank in the Hudson's murky waters, his mother began to have second thoughts, according to Police Lt. Pat Arnold.
He apparently said the same thing to Meave Ryan, the woman who first found him.
Ryan, who was driving by when she spotted the wet and shivering boy, said he told her that his mom was frantic and very upset because her boyfriend was cheating on her.
Armstrong said the mother climbed into the back seat of the minivan, embraced her four children and repeated several times, "If I am going to die, we're all going to die together."
But when the van plunged into the water and began to sink, his mother tried to climb into the vehicle's front seat, saying, "Oh, God, I've made a mistake," Armstrong said Thursday.
Police divers later discovered the bodies of Lashanda Armstrong, 25, an 11-month-old girl, a 2-year-old boy and a 5-year-old boy 25 yards off shore.
A police investigation into the incident suggests that the mother intentionally drove the vehicle into the water, according to Newburgh Police Chief Michael Ferrara.
It took responders an hour of searching, using dive teams and a circling helicopter, to find the van submerged in 8 feet of water, according to Vatter.
Before the incident, a relative called police reporting a "domestic disturbance" that police say may have involved Armstrong's husband, Jean Pierre.
That belief is based both on a phone call the relative received in which the relative reported hearing "tussling in the background," and a history of domestic problems in the family, police said in a statement released Wednesday.
Authorities declined to identify the relative.
Police said Thursday that they have ruled out potential criminal charges against Pierre, the father of the children who died.
Newburgh Mayor Nicholas Valentine said the incident is certain to have "a lasting effect on this city."
A neighbor, Christine Santos, said she "would never have imagined (Lashanda) to do this to her kids."
"To them little babies. I would have never have imagined. I'm in shock," she added.
'We're all going to die together,' mom says before plunging into river - CNN.com
