MIAMI (WSVN) - Police arrested a woman at a Miami home after officers responded to several hang up calls to 911 and found her two children dead.
Forty-one-year-old Odette Joassaint made her first court appearance, Wednesday afternoon.
“Ma’am, you were arrested for two counts of first-degree murder,” said Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy S. Glazer.
Tuesday evening, City of Miami Police officers responded to an apartment at 131 NE 75th St., in the Little River neighborhood.
Police said a woman called 911 several times that night between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. without explaining why.
Investigators said officers spoke to the suspect, who appeared to be in mental crisis and irate.
“As soon as they made contact with her, she says something to the effect of, ‘Come get them, I don’t want them anymore,'” said Miami Police Officer Michael Vega.
Responding officers found the children inside the home unresponsive.
“Our officers entered the home, and inside one of the bedrooms, they located two children,” said Vega.
The arrest report states the children were found “lying in bed in a prone position, with their arms, legs and necks tied.”
“The young boy was 3 years old, the young girl was 5 years old, and they appeared to be deceased,” said Vega. “Our officers made attempts to try to revive these kids.”
But police said it was too late.
Officers later arrested Joassaint at the scene.
Wednesday morning, the distraught father of the children, Frantzy Belval, showed up to the home Wednesday morning holding baby pictures of his children.
“One was Jeffery and Laura,” he said.
Belval said he was at a loss for words.
“I can’t talk to you,” he said. “The police told me, the police talked to me in the house, but I don’t know what to say.”
A 7News viewer sent recent pictures of a smiling Joassaint with her children at a birthday party held a few weeks ago.
A neighbor told 7News he regularly saw the two children.
“They would say, ‘Hi.’ They always came up to my house, like, knocked on the door, said hi, gave them candy and stuff like that, but it’s sad, though,” he said.
Family friend Darlene Petion spoke to 7News about her memories of the children.
“They was little sweet, happy children. I love these kids so much,” she said. “I can’t believe she do that because I’m always talking to her, how she take care of the kids, you know. I can’t believe she do that.”
Off camera, 7News spoke to a woman who claimed to be the godmother of the children. She described Joassaint to be the children’s mother.
She said the woman had mental health issues and was begging her to adopt the children if she couldn’t handle it. The woman then arrived to the crime scene and asked what had occurred and found out her godchildren were dead.
“That’s their mother. That’s their mother,” the neighbor said. “I met their father too and everything. That’s their mother and everything, yeah.”
“What’s there inside your brain that you, a mother, how do you feel, like, what? Is there a devil in your head that could do that? Come on,” said Petion.
Police said they’ve been called to this apartment many times related to problems between Joassaint and the father of her children. They said they’re looking into the suspect’s history to determine what led up to the tragedy.
An autopsy is expected in the next few days to determine the cause of death.
Joassaint is being held without bond.
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