New York: 3-Year-Old Boy, 11-Month-Old Baby Fatally Stabbed to Death; Is There a Suspect?

Authorities said that a baby and a toddler died on Saturday night in a Bronx apartment after each was stabbed numerous times in the body and neck.

The mother of the two boys, aged 3 and 11 months, who were recognized by the New York City Police Department, was apprehended and is currently being held as a "person of interest." Police are now conducting an active investigation.

Children Stabbed to Death in New York

At a late-night news conference on Saturday, NYPD Deputy Chief Louis Deceglie said that at about 7:20 p.m., police were initially called to a third-floor apartment in a Bronx family shelter in response to a complaint of a woman acting erratically.

Police were informed that the woman had attempted to set objects on fire in the kitchen of the apartment, although the early evidence indicated that she was not acting aggressively and that there were no weapons on the property.

Officers saw the 24-year-old woman naked and "acting irrationally" when they arrived, according to Deceglie. He said that she was taken into custody without a hitch and sent to the neighboring Saint Barnabas Hospital for a checkup. Her identity has not been made public.

According to Deceglie, a family friend informed authorities that the woman's kids were with their father before she left for the hospital. But soon after, he added, dispatchers got a second 911 call saying two kids were "unresponsive, not breathing" at the same place.

The children had sustained several stab wounds when patrol officers returned to the residence, and they and another family member tried to revive them as they waited for an ambulance.

The kids were sent to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital for treatment, where they later passed away from their wounds, according to Deceglie. According to CBS New York, a neighbor claimed to have seen the kids being taken out the residence on a stretcher.

According to a statement from the NYPD, after being taken into custody by police, a woman was transported in an ambulance to a hospital for assessment. According to city documents, the apartment complex is designated as a family refuge.

Deceglie said a family acquaintance informed police upon arrival at the scene of the initial 911 call that the woman's children were being cared for by their father. Police declined to provide any more information when CNN asked about the sequence of 911 calls and the officers' subsequent actions.

"Patrol officers went back to the residence and discovered a 3-year-old child with several stab wounds and an 11-month-old infant boy both unconscious," Decegilie said.

Father Screamed For Help After 2 Young Boys Killed at NY Apartment

The investigation is still underway, according to authorities, and the boys' 22-year-old mother is being held. The father of the boys is not being held by authorities.

Police stated that the mother has not been prosecuted or detained, and she has not been publicly identified as a suspect. Within ten minutes of his arrival, the father discovered the sons dead behind the bed sheet, hiding in the bathtub.

"The father left the apartment quickly. Help me, help me, help me! he cried," Shannon Holyfield, a neighbor who lives two houses down, said, as per NY Daily News via MSN.

According to reports, the father admitted to having a fight with the mother the day before and leaving the apartment to spend the night in his car. He was in the area when the police initially arrived at the flat, and after learning from a friend that the mother had just been carried away in an ambulance, he went back to see how the kids were doing.

After the unfortunate discovery, the father and building personnel reportedly made many more 911 calls, according to reports. Despite the fact that police had previously been called to a domestic altercation involving the mother, the NYPD has no history of previous mental health difficulties, according to sources. The family only moved in this past summer, according to Holyfield, who lives in the building with her teenage daughter.