Family members have identified the young twin children who died after they were found unresponsive inside a car on Interstate 95 in Miami-Dade early Friday and say their mother was the person who was driving and who police say jumped off the highway. NBC6’s Niko Clemmons and Jamie Guirola report
Two young twins have died after they were found unresponsive inside a car on Interstate 95 in Miami-Dade Friday morning in an incident that also left a woman critically injured, authorities said.
The two children, a boy and a girl who were fraternal 3-year-old twins, were found after officers responded to a call for a medical emergency at I-95 northbound and the Florida's Turnpike extension around 2 a.m., police said.
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The calls were made by a passerby in another vehicle, MDPD Det. Det. Andre Martin said.
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As police arrived on the scene, they saw a woman, who was confirmed to be the driver of the vehicle with the two children left in the backseat, jump off the ramp onto the Tri-Rail tracks, Martin said.
"That adult female went over the railing to the on-ramp onto the railroad tracks, which is a considerable distance," Martin said. "The adult female that was located, the action of her going over to the railing, that happened almost as soon as our officers arrived."
The children were transported to an area hospital where they were later pronounced dead. The woman was taken to Aventura Hospital.
Officials haven't released the identities of the children and the woman but family members identified the woman as 42-year-old Shirlene N. Alcime and the children as Milinddjy and Milender.
Family said Alcime, the twins' mother, was in stable condition.
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In a news release later Friday, police said they believe the woman jumped in a suicide attempt.
"Right now our investigators are working to piece this tragic incident together. There are many many questions that they have that they're working to find answers to," Martin said.
Martin added that detectives were conducting a thorough investigation, and that the medical examiner would determine the cause of death for the children.
"Not just as a police officer, but as a father, any case, any incidents such as this one that results in the death of a child is very, very difficult. My prayers are with the family of these children. My prayers are with our investigators and officers having to deal with this in our community at large of Miami-Dade County," Martin said. "There should be no incident that results in the loss of a child, especially the ages of three and four years old. And we just really hope we can figure out exactly what happened here. And why something tragic, so tragic as this would happen."
Footage from Chopper 6 showed Miami-Dade Police officers and Florida Highway Patrol troopers at the scene, with a silver SUV involved in the incident parked on the side of the highway.
The incident caused a number of traffic delays in the area. Road rangers blocked off the northbound on-ramp at Golden Glades with access to the Palmetto Expressway and the Turnpike.
Tri-Rail also issued an alert about police activity on the tracks impacting service.
This is a developing story. Check back with NBC6 for updates.
