Bronx mom accused of murdering twins put on suicide watch
The Bronx mom accused of killing her 5-year-old twins was put on suicide watch Friday as a judge ordered her held without bail for the double murder.
“Can I go home now?” a subdued Gloria Asamoah — dressed in a bright orange Department of Correction jacket and sporting a shaved head and dark circles under her eyes — quietly asked her attorney as she was arraigned on murder and manslaughter charges at Bronx Criminal Court.
Asamoah, 42, has been in and out of a psychiatric hospital since the Dec. 18 deaths of her children, Gianna and George Kantanka.
The mother was under the care of a doctor and not free to leave at any time as a Bronx grand jury indicted her, NYPD officials said.
During the brief arraignment, Judge Brenda Rivera approved of defense attorney Micheal Aspinall’s request that Asamoah receive continued psychiatric treatment and be put on suicide watch while she’s in DOC custody.
Asamoah became despondent after Giana and George died in the apartment they lived in with their mother and father on E. 175th St. near Topping Ave. in Morris Heights, according to cops.
The woman called police around 11:20 a.m. when she found the children cold — hours after she claimed she spotted them foaming at the mouth and nose.
When medics arrived, the kids were already dead. After numerous police interviews, it was initially believed Giana and George died of illness.
An autopsy was conducted immediately after their deaths but needed further study. Three months later, the city medical examiner determined the twins were victims of homicide and were choked to death.
Giana and George’s father is a health care worker and was at his job when the kids were killed. He will not be charged in their deaths, according to police.
