A 23-year-old mother from Queens is facing murder charges for the deaths of her twin infants who were found -- one in a crib, the other under a sink -- inside their NYCHA home Thursday, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed.
Up until the charges were announced Friday afternoon, Danezja Kilpatrick had been described by law enforcement sources as a person of interest in the deadly investigation. She had been taken into custody and questioned by police late Thursday. Nearly 24 hours later, police were filing murder charges against the mother.
The twins, a boy and a girl just 46 days old, were found at the Woodside Houses in Woodside after a cousin of their mother called 911 to request a wellness check, according to law enforcement sources and two senior NYPD officials.
Responding officers found the infants unresponsive; both were pronounced dead at the scene by EMS. Senior law enforcement officials said that one of the young children, a boy identified as Dallis Bentley, was found in a crib and appeared to have been stabbed.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Dallis was found with a stab wound to the neck, face down with a knife sticking out of the back of his neck, by firefighters, two senior NYPD officials with knowledge of the investigation said Friday.
The other infant, a girl identified as Dakota Bentley, was discovered wrapped in a pink blanket inside of a plastic bag under a sink after the mother pointed to the cabinet when asked, officials familiar with the matter said. She was found with no obvious sign of physical injuries.
News
Crime scene detectives found Pine-Sol in baby bottles in the home, the two seniors officials said. Autopsy results are still pending.
The twins were said to have been born on March 7, making them just over six weeks old at the time they were found by first responders. Their deaths are being treated as suspicious by police thus far, and investigators remained at the scene Thursday collecting clues and evidence. A knife was recovered at the scene, officials with knowledge of the investigation confirmed to News 4.
There was no indication that the family had any previous domestic incidents or involvement from the city's Administration for Children's Services, officials familiar with the matter said.
