Mother Throws Children in Mississippi River and Jumps
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3975020.html
Minneapolis Star Tribune
July 8, 2003
In the minutes before Naomi Marie Gaines kissed her babies and threw them into
the Mississippi River, she pushed them in a stroller up and down the Wabasha
Street Bridge in St. Paul, yearning to see a friendly face or other single
moms.
Gaines told police that she felt like people on the bridge were staring at her
and that someone whom she bumped into with the stroller reacted rudely. She
said she "would rather be dead than live in a place where I'm not free to walk
around, I'm not free to be who I am, I'm not free to see other moms out,
single black moms with their kids, enjoying their kids."
Friday night wasn't the first time Gaines caught authorities' attention by
acting strangely with her children in public.
Gaines received psychiatric treatment last August after she was found
wandering the streets with her four children "talking and singing
nonsensically," according to court records.
...Gaines is a vocalist in the rap group NSL, or North Star Legends, which has
performed in St. Paul and recently in Princeton, Minn. Her stage name is
Naomi, but she also goes by "Pleasant."
A doctor who petitioned for a court order to hold Gaines at Abbott
Northwestern Hospital said she was unable to care for herself. He diagnosed
major depression with psychotic features after examining her.
At a Ramsey County court hearing Aug. 7, 2002, Gaines agreed to voluntarily
receive treatment at the hospital and the Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment
Center, if needed.
She also agreed, under a court order, to take neuroleptic medications, follow
doctors' treatment and after-care orders, and abstain from alcohol and
mind-altering substances.
A court order releasing her from those requirements was signed Feb. 11. Rhonda
Ingram, a family friend, described Gaines as "a wonderful mother" but said the
system had failed her.
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startribune.com
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3975020.html
Mom of twins yearned to see a friendly face
Tony Kennedy and Paul Gustafson
Star Tribune
Published 07/08/2003
In the minutes before Naomi Marie Gaines kissed her babies and threw them into
the Mississippi River, she pushed them in a stroller up and down the Wabasha
Street Bridge in St. Paul, yearning to see a friendly face or other single
moms.
She wanted to join the Taste of Minnesota celebration on nearby Harriet
Island, but instead she succumbed to the alienation she felt on the bridge.
Suddenly, she wanted to kill herself and she didn't want to leave her twin
14-month-old boys behind in a hostile world.
That's what Gaines told police in an interview made public Monday in a
second-degree murder charge filed against her in Ramsey County District Court.
Before heading for downtown, Gaines and the boys -- Sincere Understanding
Allah and Supreme Knowledge Allah -- had been at a family picnic at Battle
Creek Regional Park in St. Paul.
Courtesy Kstp-tv
The 24-year-old mother, whom rescuers pulled from the river along with one
of her sons, appeared in court Monday afternoon but did not enter a plea in
the death of Sincere Understanding. She is being held in the county jail in
lieu of $500,000 bail, with her next court appearance scheduled for July 21.
About 50 friends and family members gathered Monday evening for a
candlelight vigil on the bridge. They wore red and white ribbons, in memory of
Sincere Understanding and in gratitude for the life of Supreme Knowledge.
Heart-shaped balloons, red carnations, teddy bears and candles formed a small
shrine overlooking the river where the mother and children were swept into the
current.
Naomi Gaines
Gaines' close friend Sheree Wilson wept as she tossed a red carnation from the
bridge.
"This is for the baby," she cried. Wilson had visited with Gaines the night
before the incident. "I love her so much," she wailed, as the summer wind
carried the flower to the rapidly flowing water below.
Rhonda Ingram, a family friend, described Gaines as "a wonderful mother" but
said the system had failed her.
"Naomi has been begging for help," Ingram said. She said Gaines had repeatedly
asked for help for her mental problems. "They'd treat her for a week or two at
a time, then give her her children back."
Gaines' friends said Supreme Knowledge is being cared for by his father,
Khalid Allah. They described Gaines as a talented rap singer who was nicknamed
"Pleasant."
County Attorney Susan Gaertner said at a news conference that "this crime is
so incomprehensible . . . it defies understanding."
Friday night wasn't the first time Gaines caught authorities' attention by
acting strangely with her children in public.
Gaines received psychiatric treatment last August after she was found
wandering the streets with her four children "talking and singing
nonsensically," according to court records.
A doctor who petitioned for a court order to hold Gaines at Abbott
Northwestern Hospital said she was unable to care for herself. He diagnosed
major depression with psychotic features after examining her.
At a Ramsey County court hearing Aug. 7, 2002, Gaines agreed to voluntarily
receive treatment at the hospital and the Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment
Center, if needed.
She also agreed, under a court order, to take neuroleptic medications, follow
doctors' treatment and after-care orders, and abstain from alcohol and
mind-altering substances.
A court order releasing her from those requirements was signed Feb. 11.
High standard
Gaertner wouldn't comment on Gaines' medical history, but she said she doesn't
anticipate a successful mental-illness defense.
"There's a human reaction, 'She had to be crazy,' " Gaertner said. "But the
law in Minnesota sets a very high standard [for mental-illness defense]."
Psychiatrists said Monday that a woman who would kiss her babies, tell them
she's sorry and then throw them into a churning river could be suffering from
psychosis or detachment from reality. The complaint against Gaines said she
followed her boys off the bridge after removing her shirt and pants.
Dr. Michael Farnsworth, a forensic psychiatrist who works at the Minnesota
Security Hospital in St. Peter, said factors that could make a mother more
vulnerable to postpartum depression include being single, being young, being
economically disadvantaged and having a history of mental illness.
Gaines told police that she felt like people on the bridge were staring at her
and that someone whom she bumped into with the stroller reacted rudely. She
said she "would rather be dead than live in a place where I'm not free to walk
around, I'm not free to be who I am, I'm not free to see other moms out,
single black moms with their kids, enjoying their kids."
She told police interviewers that she did not want to die quietly in her
apartment without anyone paying any attention to her.
Gaines, a resident of St. Paul's McDonough Homes public housing project, was
described by her next-door neighbor as a caring mother who spent a lot of time
with her children. Besides Sincere Understanding and Supreme Knowledge, Gaines
is the mother of an older boy and girl by a different father, said Tracy
Buford, the neighbor.
"As far as I know, she is a sweet person," Buford said. "She lived alone with
the kids, but she got a lot of help from her mother and sister."
Darrell Jones, a mutual friend of Gaines and Khalid Allah, the twins' father,
said she had been acting a little strangely in the past two weeks, but not to
the extent that he worried about her.
Jones said that he met with Gaines in the middle of last week about their
music business, No Yo Role Entertainment, and that she seemed unfocused and
"spaced out." He knew of her past mental-health problems and said he believes
that rap music has been "a healthy way for her to express herself."
Jones said Gaines is a vocalist in the rap group NSL, or North Star Legends,
which has performed in St. Paul and recently in Princeton, Minn. Her stage
name is Naomi, but she also goes by "Pleasant."
Khalid Allah could not be reached for comment.
Jones said that he is a former roommate of Allah's and that the two men often
cared for Supreme Knowledge and Sincere Understanding.
"They were like my little nephews," Jones said. "This is hard."
Staff writers Pat Doyle and Darlene Prois contributed to this
report.
The writers are at
tonyk@startribune.com and
pgus>tafson@startribune.com.
© Copyright 2003 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
Last Updated on
05/17/04
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