Dad of Bronx kids allegedly butchered by mom struggling to speak after horror, pal says
The Bronx dad who discovered the bodies of his two young sons at a city homeless shelter is so distraught that he is struggling to even speak, a family friend told The Post on Monday.
“He ain’t saying words,” the pal said outside the Echo Place shelter in Mount Hope. “Just shakin’ his head to some stuff, like if you ask if he wants something to eat, and you ask like 10 times.”
He said the distraught dad, Columbus Canada, 31, then only shakes his head to indicate no.
Canada found the butchered bodies of his boys, Deshawn Fleming, 3, and 11-month-old Octavius Canada, inside the family’s apartment bathtub shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday, cops said.
The boys’ mom, Dimone Fleming, 22, is accused of killing the children, repeatedly slashing them in the neck and torso before leaving their bodies in the tub under a pile of wet clothes.
Fleming was obsessed with demonic possession and may have been convinced they were possessed, law enforcement sources have said.
Police first responded to a call of a disturbance at the apartment around 7:30 that night. They took Fleming away for a psychiatric evaluation at St. Barnabas Hospital — unaware that the kids’ bodies were in the tub because they saw no blood and a family friend had told them the dad had the children, police said.
Canada went to the apartment after being told by a family friend that cops had been there. He discovered his dead boys in the tub, and cops were called back to the home.
Fleming, who remains at the hospital, was charged with multiple counts of murder in the slayings late Sunday, authorities said.
Sources said Fleming was on the radar of the city’s child care agency after her older son’s birth for alleged improper care.
Outside the shelter at 246 Echo Place, a memorial was erected for the two slain siblings, with acquaintances and passers-by alike paying their respects.
“Love you DeShawn & Baby O,” read one message. “We will always miss y’all — Uncle Eric.”
Another message, left amid several candles at the scene, read, “Sleep in paradise boys.
“God have you now,” it said. “Love always, Shannon.”
