Mother who jumped off overpass formally charged with killing her 3-year-old twins who were found in car’s backseat

After months of investigating, Florida authorities have formally charged a mother with killing her 3-year-old twins, but the counts fell short of the possible murder charges.

Shirlene N. Alcime, 43, faces an aggravated manslaughter case, according to NBC Miami affiliate WTVJ. Miami-Dade police have said that they were called out to I-95 on Feb. 2. Alcime jumped off the expressway wall onto the train tracks below just as police arrived at the scene, officers claim. Meanwhile, her children, Milendhet and Milendhere Napoleon-Cadet, 3, had been found in the backseat of a nearby car. They were unresponsive, had been foaming at the mouth and were pronounced dead a short while later. Their mother survived.

Alcime allegedly denied giving her children anything to bring upon their condition, but admitted her family was in dire financial straits and that her kids couldn’t be left alone with their father or else they would end up “homeless or sleeping in a car.” She allegedly revealed she had brought the kids to McDonald’s and Chuck E. Cheese that day so that the twins could “have a good day.”

“The defendant admitted to contemplating jumping off the bridge with both victims or throwing them off one by one and then jumping to end their lives,” officers wrote.

Authorities had previously suggested the possibility of murder charges, but they did not immediately press homicide charges because they were still working on the preliminary investigation. For example, the toxicology screenings on the children were still pending. Law&Crime has reached out to prosecutors for more information, such as Milendhet and Milendhere’s cause of death.

Alcime, who ended up hospitalized after the incident, sat in a wheelchair when appearing on court on Friday, according to WTVJ. She was already in jail for aggravated child neglect with bodily harm, to which she has pleaded not guilty.

Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.

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