N.Y. town reeling after family drowns

When 10-year-old Lashaun Armstrong walked into the Newburgh Fire Department on Tuesday night he was soaking wet, cold and shaking so badly he could hardly speak.

Moments earlier, he had been sitting next to his mom in her minivan with three siblings in the back as the van rolled down a boat ramp into the Hudson River. Lashaun opened a window and swam to shore. When he looked back, the van was gone, he told firefighters, who rushed to the scene, Newburgh (N.Y.) Fire Chief Michael Vatter said.

Tense moments passed as fire and police rescue divers, boats and a state police helicopter scoured the murky river. After an hour, divers found the van and pulled it out of the water. Lashaun, who didnt want to leave the fire department, helped, showing police where the van went in before they took him to the hospital.

He was having difficulty explaining what happened, Vatter said. He was cold, wet, scared. Imagine trying to tell somebody what happened and youre 10 years old and it was something so traumatic.

Dead are Lashauns mother, Lashanda Armstrong, 25; Landon Pierre, 5; Lance Pierre, 2; and 11-month-old Laianna Pierre.

Now the people of Newburgh are searching for words to understand and explain as police investigate.

Its disturbing to say the least, Vatter said. Everybody was upset.

The boat ramp, two blocks from the fire and police building, led to a river bloated with rain, silty with winter runoff and inky dark.

The car wasnt visible, Vatter said. We put two firefighters in the water in cold-water rescue suits.

A police dive team was called up. Divers found the van 75 feet from the ramp in 8 to 10 feet of water. By then, medical dispatchers told rescue crews it was a do not resuscitate situation because so much time had elapsed, Vatter said.

Most of the guys were really upset, he said. A lot of my folks are in their thirties, and they have kids in that age range.

A pastor was called to the scene for support.

Wednesday morning, Newburgh Mayor Nicholas Valentine was still reeling.

We are talking about a tragedy in this city that is second to none, he said. The whole scene surrounding what occurred in Newburgh last night will have a lasting effect on this city.

The boys great-aunt, Angela Gilliam, said Lashaun was doing good and taking it all in.

The boy will need help coping, said David Palmiter, a psychologist and public education coordinator for the American Psychological Association.

There are certain life experiences that are so horrible you just say I cant intellect how bad it must be  for the boy, says Palmiter, author of Working Parents, Thriving Families: 10 Strategies That Make a Difference. To have someone, not only your mom but your siblings, die this way has just got to be indescribably intense.

The incident occurred about 10 minutes after police got a call about a disturbance at the home where Lashanda Armstrong lived with her children and husband, Vatter said. A relative received a phone call, heard noise in the background and called police. When they got to the apartment, no one was there.

Armstrong lived in a gritty part of Newburgh. Several neighbors called her an attentive mother who balanced care of her children with an outside job.

Tina Claybourne, who lives nearby, said,

She was a very good mom … She always was with her kids.

Armstrong seemed stressed when she picked up the children Tuesday at the Young and Unique Christian Development Child Care, said Shaniesha Strange, supervisor in the infant room.

It just seemed like she was having a bad day, Strange said. I could see that something was kind of bothering her, but she didnt talk about it. She wasnt one to talk about her business. The only thing shed say was that she was so alone. Shes a single parent; she takes great care of her kids, goes to school and works. She really needed a helping hand.

The family was not well-known. Lashanda Armstrong, a student with a full-time job, had been in the area only about a year, Councilman Curlie Dillard said.

She was upward bound, he said. Its so sad that we lose young people with a future.

Police questioned Armstrongs husband Jean Pierre, father of the dead children, but they did not provide details about the interview.

Kerry Butrick, community relations specialist for Newburgh public schools, said crisis teams would be in schools today, counseling adults and students.

Newburgh Councilwoman Christine Bello, a florist, said customers walked in all day Wednesday, buying flowers and balloons to pay their respects to the victims. Some were weeping.

At the boat ramp, four women brought balloons, flowers and three stuffed animals and put them on the grass. One said she was a member of Lashanda Armstrongs family but did not give her name.

They lit a candle and said a prayer: Give us the strength to go through all the suffering, one of the women prayed. We need you right now. Heavenly Father, come into all our lives.