Woman whose toddlers were found dead in her SUV charged with manslaughter. But why?
Miami-Dade state prosecutors this week charged a woman whose two children were found dead in her vehicle after she jumped from a flyover at the Golden Glades interchange, with manslaughter.
Shirlene Alcime had been jailed with aggravated child neglect with bodily harm charges since February, while investigators with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office awaited autopsy results. Those charges were dropped.
Earlier this month, the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner ruled the children’s death a homicide — without explanation. The agency said it’s been blocked from sharing information since last year when state legislators passed a law called the The Rex and Brody Act, which prevents public access to autopsy photos and reports of minors killed through domestic violence.
So Friday, during a brief hearing and without explanation, Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Natalie Snyder told Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Ellen Sue Venzer that the new charges had been filed. Alcime’s attorney said her client pleaded not guilty. And the hearing ended with Alcime remaining jailed.
“Since the Medical Examiner’s report came back with findings of homicide by unspecified means, we amended the case to two counts of aggravated manslaughter,” said SAO Spokesman Ed Griffith.
Three-year-old twins Milendhere and Milendijhit Cadet Napoleon were found together and lifeless in the back seat of their mother’s Toyota Highlander on an overpass at the Golden Glades interchange on Feb. 2. Alcime, 43, had left them behind as she leapt from the overpass. She survived.
READ MORE: Toddler twins die after found in car on I-95. Mother tried to kill herself, cops say
Just before she jumped, a tow truck driver stopped to speak with Alcime, who told him her kids were in the back of the SUV. He called 911 and performed CPR on the children, but it was too late.
According to her arrest report, three days after she jumped she told police she planned a murder-suicide because of financial issues. She said she considered tossing the twins before she jumped. The tow truck driver told police he told the woman to begin CPR on her daughter, but when police arrived she walked to the wall and jumped.
No visible wounds were found on the children. And in the six months since their deaths, no one has publicly said how they were killed.
