NEW CASSEL, N.Y. - A 27-year-old mother was in custody Sunday, suspected of drowning her three young children in their New Cassel, N.Y., apartment, officials said.
The woman, identified as Leatrice Brewer, was taken to a hospital for evaluation and questioning, while the bodies of the children -- Jewell, 6, Michael, 5, and Innocent, 18 months -- were taken to the Nassau County Medical Examiner's Office for autopsies, WNBC-TV reported.
Police entered the apartment and found Brewer, who simply pointed to a bedroom.
"When they entered the apartment they found three children dead, all on a bed," Lt. Kevin Smith said. "Together on one bed."
Investigators told WNBC it appeared the children had been drowned.
Brewer's grandmother and brother denied assertions by the mother's friends and neighbors that she had exhibited signs of being troubled, WNBC reported.
"She was not ballistic. This is all a shock to us," her grandmother said.
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