Miami, Florida: Police responded to an apartment on the night of Tuesday, April 12 after a woman, described as being incoherent and agitated, made repeated calls to 911 but failed to convey the reason for the calls.
PIO is on scene at 131 NE 75 St where officers responded to calls from a female who seemed to be in a crisis. Upon arrival, officers located 2 minors who were unresponsive. @CityofMiamiFire responded and declared the minors deceased. Media staging area is NE 1 Ave and 75 St. pic.twitter.com/GxSkTpToVD
— Miami PD (@MiamiPD) April 13, 2022
Officers with the Miami Police Department arrived and, according to a police report, made contact with 41-year-old Odette Joassaint who told them, "Come get them, I don't want them anymore."
Inside the apartment officers found the bodies of her two children, a 3-year-old Jeffrey and 5-year-old Laura hog tied and strangled by red ribbons.
Despite efforts by emergency responders, both children were pronounced dead at the scene.
Joassaint was arrested and has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. In her first appearance in court yesterday she was ordered to be held without bond.
Miami Police Officer Michael Vega stated that when officers first made contact with Joassaint on Tuesday night, she "was having a mental crisis and was irate." An unidentified source with the police department reportedly described her as seemingly hallucinating according to WPLG.
Law enforcement disclosed that they were familiar with the residence and had responded to calls there previously. The Florida Department of Children and Families was also previously involved with the family according to the children's father, Frantzy Belval, but the nature and extent of their involvement has not been disclosed.
Speaking with the Miami Herald Bevel described the situation as strained over the previous year. He said that Joassaint had not worked for the last year and had repeatedly asked to move back in with him. Requests that he repeatedly denied.
"I told her, 'You are crazy. You create too much problems," Bevel said.
Both Joassaint and Bevel had previously been jailed at least once concerning domestic violence.
Bevel never expected that this would happen and commented that while the children were in Joassaint's custody, they regularly visited with him on Saturdays. "They loved me so much. Every week, I buy clothes for the kids."
During hours of questioning, Joassaint is said to have confessed to police to killing her children saying, that the "kids were suffering and that they would suffer less if they were dead."
A public defender has been appointed to represent her. Her next court date is not known at this time.