The South Florida mother who jumped off Interstate 95 after her 3-year-old twins were found unresponsive inside a car earlier this month has been arrested in connection with the childrens' deaths, officials said.
Shirlene Napoleon Alcime, 42, was arrested and booked into jail Thursday on two counts of child neglect causing great bodily harm, Miami-Dade Police officials said.
According to an arrest report, Alcime told investigators she'd been plotting to kill the two children and herself for the previous two months, "due to her current financial status and multiple debt(s) that she owes." NBC6 learned Alcime owned several businesses in South Florida and she and her family faced several eviction cases over the last two years.
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The incident happened in the early morning hours of Feb. 2 in the nortbound lanes of I-95 near the Florida's Turnpike Extension.
The three-year-old fraternal twins, a girl and boy identified as Milendhet and Milendhere G. Napoleon-Cadet, were found unresponsive inside a car. Both were foaming from the mouth and nose, the arrest report said.
They were taken to a local hospital where they were later pronounced dead.
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As police arrived at the scene, they saw Alcime jump off the ramp onto the Tri-Rail tracks below in what officials believe was a suicide attempt.
Alcime fell from a considerable height and was taken to the hospital.
The manner and cause of death for the twins will be determined by the autopsy results conducted by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner.
According to the arrest report, Alcime said she'd spent the day driving around and going to different locations looking for a bridge to jump from.
She finally decided on the I-95 overpass, where she parked her silver Toyota Highlander.
"The defendant admitted to contemplating jumping off the bridge with both victims or throwing them off one by one and then jumping to end their lives," the report said.
According to the report, a tow truck driver happened to be passing and saw Alcime outside her vehicle and stopped to help her.
Alcime told the driver to call 911 because her children were unresponsive, and as he called 911 he removed the boy from his car seat and started to give him CPR.
The driver told Alcime to remove the girl from her car seat and give her CPR, but as first responders were approaching with lights and sirens blaring, Alcime walked away and threw herself off the overpass, the report said.
"The defendant admitted to walking away while both victims were foaming at the mouth, once she heard the police sirens. The defendant then jumped over the overpass bridge landing on the ground beneath to end her life."
Alcime was asked what she gave the twins to ingest that caused them to foam at the mouth and become unresponsive, but denied giving them anything and said she didn't know what happened, the report said.
The report said Alcime's boyfriend, who's also the twins' father, had reported them missing that morning, just a couple hours after the incident on I-95.
The twins' father spoke to NBC6 after their deaths, saying he doesn't know why this happened and that the children did not have any health conditions.
Jail records showed Alcime was being held without bond Thursday. Attorney information wasn't available.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.
