Nanny Indicted in Stabbing Deaths of 2 Children

Yoselyn Ortega, 50, has been indicted on two counts each of first-degree murder and second-degree murder

The nanny accused of killing two children in their Upper West Side home has been indicted on murder charges, authorities said Tuesday.

Yoselyn Ortega, 50, has been indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, officials said.

Ortega was previously charged by police Saturday, Nov. 3, while recovering from self-inflicted wounds at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. 

Police say that on the evening of Oct. 25, while the children's mother was out with a third child, Ortega repeatedly stabbed 6-year-old Lucia Krim and her 2-year-old brother, Leo.

When their mother, Marina Krim, returned with her 3-year-old daughter, she found their bodies in the bathtub, with Ortega lying on the bathroom floor with stab wounds to her neck. A kitchen knife was nearby.

Ortega, 50, remains hospitalized. 
 
A memorial service was held for Lucia and Leo at Avery Fisher Hall Nov. 5. Their parents had released a statement saying they wanted to celebrate their "beautiful lives," not just mourn them. They have not spoken publicly about the murders.
 
Friends and relatives of Ortega said she appeared to be struggling emotionally and financially recently. Few, though, could offer any explanation for what might have caused her to attack the children.
 
"She snapped," the nanny's sister, Celia Ortega, told The New York Post. "We don't understand what happened to her mind."
 
"Apparently over the last month she was not herself," said police department spokesman Paul Browne.
 
Police said they were unaware of any significant history of psychological problems for Ortega, but were investigating whether she had recently sought treatment.
 
Neighbor Ruben Rivas told reporters she seemed to have suddenly aged in recent weeks and had lost weight. Other friends said that while she was paid well by her domestic employers, Kevin and Marina Krim, and seemed happy with her job, she had suffered a financial setback when she had to give up an apartment she had rented in the Bronx, and recently moved back in with her sister.
 
William Krim, grandfather to the slain children, told the Times he wasn't aware of any conflicts between the family and the nanny.
 
"We're just the most stunned people in the world. I mean, they treated this woman so well," he said.
 
Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us