Lashandra Armstrong Drives Minivan with Four Children in Hudson River, One Child, Leshaun Armstrong, Escapes

SHOCK: Lashandra Armstrong did the unthinkable. She drove her car, with her four children in tow into the Hudson River in Newburgh, New York, Tuesday. One child, Leshaun Armstrong, aged 10, escaped after he climbed over his mother and out of the window to safety as the car sped into the water, according to the Daily Mail. Armstrong and her three other children died.

Police had earlier been called to a domestic dispute at her home in nearby Newburgh, around 60 miles north of New York City.

But just moments before they arrived to deal with the situation the woman crammed her four children into the van and drove six blocks to a nearby boat ramp.

She sped into the cold river in an apparent suicide and murder, but police said terrified Leshaun opened a window and climbed out of the vehicle in time.

The boy fled to a nearby fire station and told them that his mother had driven into the river with three of his siblings inside the car.

But before the emergency services could respond, Landon Pierce, aged five, Lance Pierce, aged two, and 11-month-old Lainaina Pierce all drowned with Lashandra.

It was originally thought the woman let out one child and kept the other three locked inside the vehicle, but police said the one child got out of the car himself. Source

This is a sad, sad case. I can't put this into words. I pray the souls of the children rest in peace. They didn't deserve the fate they were dealt. This woman was only 25 with four children and the boy who escaped was 10. She started having children far too early and there's something seriously wrong with that picture. I hope the fathers of the children played some role in their lives and she wasn't on her own taking care of four kids. Sad, sad commentary.