A mother accused of murdering her two young children

LAKEWOOD – A 27-year-old Lakewood mother has been charged with murdering her two young children, stabbing one of them and drowning both of them, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office announced.

According to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, Naomi Elkins has been charged with two counts of murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.

Elkins appeared virtually in Ocean County Court before Judge Scott Basen on Wednesday afternoon from the county jail’s medical facility. Her detention hearing is scheduled for July 1, and she is represented by Mitch Ansell, a criminal defense attorney.

On Tuesday at 4:50 p.m., Lakewood police responded to a report of two children in cardiac arrest at a home on Shenandoah Drive, prosecutors announced. There they found the Hatzolah medical service trying to save the lives of two children, aged 1 and 3. However, their efforts were unsuccessful and both children were pronounced dead on the spot.

Police opened an investigation and found that the one-year-old child had been stabbed and both had drowned, the prosecutor’s office said. They concluded that Elkins had murdered both of her children and took her into custody without incident. She was taken to the Ocean County Jail and will remain there until her detention hearing.

Billhimer expressed appreciation for the work at the scene by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, the Lakewood Township Police Department, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Multiple officers were seen Tuesday evening at a home located on the northeast side of the intersection of Shenandoah Drive and Rockbridge Road. Crime scene tape was visible along the entire corner, stretching from the front of the house on Shenandoah to Rockbridge. There was a playground next to the house.

Investigators could be seen entering and exiting through a rear side door facing the intersection. They were seen removing several boxes and bags from the home and loading them into a Sheriff’s Office vehicle.

On Wednesday morning the house was quiet. At this point, there were no crime tapes or law enforcement vehicles at the scene of the double homicide.

The residence is located in a neighborhood with larger homes likely to be home to families with children, many of whom belong to the town’s sizable Orthodox Jewish community. Toys and bicycles can be seen scattered across the estate’s many lawns.

“It’s terrible to know that something like this happened here,” Mayor Raymond Coles said. “I always wait for official information and I don’t bother. As far as I know, this is the worst possible thing that could happen. Everything about children hurts, making them stronger and sadder.”

Coles said the local Orthodox community is “still in shock and I don’t want to interfere. … From the moment they found out about it, support networks kicked in. They don’t have to worry about people supporting them.”

Lakewood, N.J. home searched; neighbors report two children dead

Officers surrounded a home near the intersection of Rockbridge Road and Shenandoah Drive in Lakewood where neighbors say two children were killed.

“Everyone is in absolute shock right now,” said Herschel Herskowitz, a local activist and longtime downtown merchant. “It brings back the story of Andrea Yates with her five children,” he said, referring to the Houston woman who pleaded guilty in 2001 to drowning her five children in a bathtub. She was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity and has been committed to psychiatric hospitals ever since.

“Her family is well known in the community,” Herskowitz said of Elkins. “Lakewood, even though it’s big, is still a small town. When things like this happen, people hide in their shells and don’t talk about it.

“I think people are shocked. “I don’t think our community could cope with a tragedy of this scale,” said Shlomo Schorr, a local resident and legislative director of Agudah Israel of New Jersey, a Jewish advocacy group. What can you say?”

Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg, spokesman for the Lakewood Vaad, a group of local Orthodox activists and business owners, released a statement saying: “‘Ain millim’ is a simple Hebrew expression meaning, “There are no words to describe.” the entire Jewish community in Lakewood – and far beyond – is still reeling from the tragic events that have shaken our collective being to the core.

“The community is reaching out with love and support to families, neighbors, friends and even casual acquaintances for emotional support and advice,” Weisberg continued. “Our medical, counseling and social services agencies are preparing to meet the needs of the community.

“Now begins the time for prayer, support and healing. May the souls of our dearly departed children be blessed with the eternal splendor of the Almighty as we pray for the healing and well-being of their family and the greater Lakewood community family.”