FIre chief Michael Vatter (l) and Police chief Michael Ferrara describe the events leading up to the discovery of the van with the three children and their mother inside.
By Nancy Peckenham
A 10-year-old Newburgh boy escaped a nightmare scenario on Tuesday night when he managed to flee a van that his mother drove into the Hudson River, killing his three young siblings along with herself.
At a press conference held Wednesday at City Hall, police described a phone call received at 7:43 pm from a relative of 25-year-old Lashanda Armstrong in which the caller reported a domestic dispute between Lashanda and Jean Pierre, the father of three children of her children, in a second floor apartment at 53 William Street. The police had responded to earlier disputes at the apartment, but when they arrived this time, no one responded.
Fire chief Michael Vatter described how, fifteen minutes later, 10-year-old Lashaun Armstrong, accompanied by a passerby, Mavis Ryan, came to the fire station on Grand Street. Vatter said the boy was obviously shaken up and soaking wet after being exposed to the 40 degree waters of the Hudson.
He told fire personnel that his mother had driven their van into the river. Fire, police and other emergency personnel responded to the waterfront near Gully’s Restaurant and located the vehicle. When they towed it from the water, they found the mother and three children, two-year-old and five-year-old boys and an 11-month-old girl, deceased.
Police believe that Lashandra Armstrong intentionally drove the van into the river and that Lashaun managed to escape through a window before it sank.
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