The grief-stricken mother of the toddler who was thrown from a 52-story building said the boy's father killed their son and then himself to torment her.
Svetlana Kanarikov and the child's father, Dmitriy Kanarikov were married for four years before they separated in August because of abuse, the New York Post reported.
Svetlana said in a statement issued through her lawyer Monday that she was hesitant to let the father be around her son, who was 3-years-old.
"At first, I opposed to the visits and only wanted them to be supervised," said Svetlana, 32, in the statement, according to the Post.
Svetlana changed her mind after a court appearance in early December. The mother said they agreed to meet at a police precinct for alternate visits and that Dmitriy could speak to their son every day on Skype. According to the Post, Svetlana said the unsupervised visits between father and son were fine.
"I was nervous about the visits, but the father never did anything violent against the child," she said.
But Dmitriy wanted full custody of their son, Kirill.
If Svetlana did not agree, "he said, he would take the child away and I will 'shoot myself from grief,' " the mother said in the statement, the Associated Press reported. "This was his sick way to take Kirill away from me."
Dmitriy, 35, threw his son from the roof of a 52-story Upper West Side building around 12 p.m. on Sunday. The father then jumped too. The toddler was rushed to a nearby hospital but later died. Dmitriy was pronounced dead on the scene.
Svetlana said Dmitriy planned the suicide before his unsupervised visit with his son that day.
"He told his parents that he would take the child to Grand Central, and instead went to a building he knew from visiting his friend there before, went to the roof and killed my son," the mother said in the statement, the Post reported.
"Kirill was a very sweet, wonderful child, who was loved very much,"Svetlana said. "He will forever live on in my heart."
