Mom Hurls Sons, Herself Into River

A mother threw her two young sons from an overpass into the mouth of the Los Angeles River on Tuesday and jumped in after them, authorities said. The youngest boy drowned.

A witness told police the woman was walking across the Ocean Boulevard bridge, pushing a stroller.

“She threw the stroller over, then she threw each of her two kids and then herself,” police spokeswoman Karen Kerr said.

The witness hailed police, who dove in and swam after the three. A passerby hurled a surfboard into the water to help before a marine patrol boat crew pulled out the toddlers and the woman.

“I looked over and the babies were just floating and the mom was there. Then, we started yelling, `Pick them up! Pick them up!’ because they were just submerged in all that water,” said Francine McCloskey, who watched in horror.

Craig Alan Fleming, who would have been 2 years old on April 30, was dead on arrival at St. Mary Medical Center, Kerr said. His 3-year-old brother, Michael Robert Fleming Jr., was in critical condition.

Donna Jean Fleming, 23, was treated at the hospital, then booked for investigation of murder and attempted murder. She was held without bail.