Mother Arrested In Tots' Bathtub Drownings

Police Say She Called Father At Work, Said Daughters Were "At Peace"

(CBS/AP)  A woman arrested after her two young daughters were found dead in a bathtub struggled with the pressures of being a mother and going to school, neighbors said.

The father of the two young girls pulled them from a bathtub Monday, where they apparently drowned, police said.

The girls' mother, Amber Hill, 22, was arrested at her apartment for further questioning. No charges had been filed, and she remained in jail Monday night.

Hill, who neighbors said was studying to be a nursing assistant, had no history of abusing or neglecting her children with the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services, The Plain Dealer reported in a story published Tuesday.

Deondra Hurt, 19, who lives in the same two-story apartment building, said Hill had taken good care of the children, ages 4 and 2.

"She always had her kids dressed up, with hair done every day," Hurt said. "She took care of them. They were well behaved kids. They played jump rope and would write on the ground with chalk."

The girls' father, Jamie Cintron, 23, told police he received a call at work from Hill and she told him that the children "are at peace," said Cleveland police Lt. Thomas Stacho.

Cintron told police he went to the apartment and pulled his daughters from the water in the bathtub.

"Both my daughters are laying here dead! Why? Why are my daughters dead?" a weeping Cintron screamed into a telephone while making a 911 emergency call to police.

Hurt said she heard the girls' father screaming and shouting. She later went to the apartment and saw Hill "on a couch, and she was just sitting there. She was a nice girl. It's real sad."

"It was some beautiful little girls, you know? We all loved them, you know? Especially the father," his mother, Nellie Cintron, told CBS affiliate WOIO-TV.

Hill provided only her name, age and address, but would not answer further questions at the apartment, Stacho said. She was calm and showed no emotion when she was taken away by police, he said.

"At this point she's our only suspect," he said.

Hill was placed in one police cruiser, Cintron in another.

"Just pray for our family. Pray for the girls. They're in heaven now," Cintron told reporters.

Stacho said the girls were placed on life support by a city medical services crew and were pronounced dead at MetroHealth Medical Center.

They apparently drowned, Stacho said.

Cause of death is pending autopsies Tuesday, said Dr. Frank Miller, Cuyahoga County coroner. He was trying to confirm the correct names of the victims. The coroner and police had various spellings of their first names.

[onlybeingme]

I am by no means justifying what she did, but she cannot be compared to other mothers as no two people are alike. Unless you are her, you don''t know what''s going on inside her mind. People sit around and pass judgment on others without living her life.

If you have a rational state of mind, it so easy to say what you would have done, and she obviously didn''t have one. People who do these type of things are not doing them with a rational state of mind; they''re either psychopathic or just having a mental breakdown.

[yoopermom]

I don%u2019t know what is worse, the fact that this woman murdered her babies or the fact that some are trying to justify it because she was a single mother and under a lot of stress? The father should have been helping her more? How do we know what the father was doing to support the kids? The facts are this woman CHOSE to kill her babies. We all have been in stressful situations. I was a single parent when my children were 2 & 5 and I was only 23 years old. I was going to school and working full time without help from my ex-husband. It sucked, some days I felt that I barely saw my boys. But I kept telling myself it would get better. I had days that I did not think I could deal with one more crisis, but we made it though. I don%u2019t buy into this mental illness cr@p either. Just another reason that people don%u2019t have to take responsibility for their actions.

[michellem99-2009]

I pander to no church as they are pro baby. There are others who will and do force these young ladies to bear,birth them,raise them. The girl can''t take care of her first THEN why was she birthing 2 babies to keep man. Don''t work. Who is the blame here. I did not read any family support. Why wasn''t she on birth control. Where was her Mum to see to it that the girl got schooled before bearing children. Nobody wants to raise other people''s children as I learnt that lesson growing up as a foster child. The break up of the family. Men don''t want to raise another man''s child/ren. I know that as young child. I am 53. Dads kill their children too. Is it fair to bring a child in to a cold world and there is no hope of getting out of poverty. I didn''t think so. So no it was not right she killed her children she be there to care for. Girls had to be taught a baby don''t make yer a woman and so will do anything to have one tho they are teens.

[Krazcarl]

TOLDYOUSO21...Your starting to sound a little unstable yourself your therory is like excusing child molesters because they were molested as kids. This is wrong some things you don''t have to go to a cunseler to find out if there wrong you should know if your smart enough to practice personal hygene.

[toldyouso21]

These so-called mothers need to be held responsible for their actions! If you can''''t handle them, don''''t have them, period!!


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Posted by nsane4fab4 at 03:07 PM : Oct 02, 2007

Now. Now. and who will be the first to try to force these same women to have the kids if they get knocked up? Or give them away as if they are baby factories for barren women? (other meddling people that''s who) Face it, if they are really this stressed out, then 3 squares and a cot and their delusions will probably not really faze them. this is what happens when people care enough to encourage women to have the babies but are curiously absent as these women and their unwanted babies have to live reality without the right to lifers ---if a person does not want babies, which is better, to kill them in the womb or after they live here a few years? Don''t try for option 3 because for most people---they''d rather destroy the results of their own seed and genetics than let strangers have them.

[toldyouso21]

don''''t understand all this stress she was going to be NA that is a nurses helper take temps help clean pts. and feed them school is not long {months}or complicated. I was a LPD took a year it was tough but manageable, there were lots of ladies in my class with children that did well there is more to this story it doesn''''t add up either a complete psycotic break or a dirty agenda, time will tell


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Posted by crzmeat at 05:48 PM : Oct 02, 2007


Maybe she was in over her head with bills. Happens a lot to people. Then, the idea of juggling school and education, child care and managing a home is a lot--especially if a woman is not receiving adequate child support and help from a partner.

We noted the father loved the girls a lot--but not enough , it would seem to provide them with a 2 parent family and an alternate child care source. Not that I am blaming the father--but a lot of things could make a person snap--especially when they see, that even with all the sacrifices they are making--that they are really going nowhere. Nursing Assistants with 2 kids would mean just a higher leg up in the Poverty line--but it still would be poverty after all that work. That, no full time partner, lots of bills, and never ending--we should be amazed that more single moms are not snapping and killing their kids.

[michellem99-2009]

I am poor and legally blind with other handicaps. I am 53. I am a Mainer by birth and upbringing. I can''t buy this. It will come out what happen to them. I choosed years ago to not have children for health reasons. I did step up to the plate and have my tubes burnt so no babies. It is too easy to bear children and they are not able to care for them. The tots should not die just cause a Mum/Dad is mental ill. We pander to the mentally ill and don''t want to see the signs even if their under yer nose the children suffer. The abuse is there. I have to believe that woman knew full well she killed her girls. She will sit in a cell in prisom/state hospital cause she has rights. So does those dead girls she killed. The signs were there.

[Krazcarl]

I don''t understand all this stress she was going to be NA that is a nurses helper take temps help clean pts. and feed them school is not long {months}or complicated. I was a LPD took a year it was tough but manageable, there were lots of ladies in my class with children that did well there is more to this story it doesn''t add up either a complete psycotic break or a dirty agenda, time will tell

[Krazcarl]

Yes she is insane would have to be I imagine and folks around her saw sighns and did nothing hoping it would go away. The terrible part is you put her in an instation she recovers sanity then realizes what she has done she will suffer from more mental illness the whole thing is catch 22. Yes the death penality may be mercifull in the long run but as a society we don''t excucute those with mental disease I do not know why.

[candy-apple]

Stress!!
Try this: age 29, 2 school aged children (5 & 9), full time job (40 hours week), full class schedule (3 hours night, 5 nights week plus 2 hours drive time), husband on the road, house and pets to take care of and anything else that needed to be done. If I had killed my children could I have used being "stressed" as an excuse? BS! I get really tired of hearing these types of excuses for doing such horrible things to other people. If you''re that stressed out, kill yourself and leave your children to those who will love and take care of them.

[agnim]

We are growing sick family-unfriendly societies that are putting excessive burdens on mothers; expect more of the same.

Killing her, as some ignoramuses suggest, WILL NOT STOP OTHER MOTHERS BECOMING INSANE!

Removing excessive pressures from the female mind will prevent the insanity of an overburdened brain!

[nsane4fab4]

Not again! Just because you have stress (who doesn''t?) does not mean you can kill your children! We''ve all seen this story, mother stressed, kills children, pleads insanity, gets off. STOP IT!! These so-called mothers need to be held responsible for their actions! If you can''t handle them, don''t have them, period!!

[olebd]

Already those around her are blaming stress for her actions. The facts are she was too young and too poor to have kids. Birth control is a lot cheaper. I hope justice is served swiftly.

[jane02--2008]

NO MORE INSANITY DEFENSE....SHE''S GUILTY, GIVE HER THE NEEDLE'' A MOTHER IS SUPPOSE TO PROTECT HER CHILDREN NOT KILL THEM.