Naked mother, 22, screamed 'what did I do?' before being arrested for killing her two young children

A mother was heard screaming 'what did I do?' moments before she was arrested for allegedly killing her two young children - who were found stabbed to death in a New York City apartment.

The three-year-old and 11-month-old were knifed multiple times in the neck and torso before being concealed in the bathtub at the Bronx home. Police arrested the boys' 'erratic, naked' mother as a person of interest. 

The horrific incident occurred at an apartment in a family shelter near in Mount Hope around 7:20pm on Saturday. Emergency services were called to the scene and found the young children dead.

Witnesses living in the building told DailyMail.com they saw the frantic mother holding her head and screaming: 'What did I do? What did I do?' in the hallway just moments before the police first arrived. 

The children's father, who discovered his lifeless children in the filled bathtub, had been in an argument with the mother the day before. He left the home a day prior and had stayed in his car overnight, DailyMail.com understands. 

The 22-year-old mom was taken into custody around 7:50pm, police said in a late-night press conference, revealing the arrest came about a half hour before the bodies were discovered.

Officers initially were sent to the residence after receiving a call at 7:20 pm complaining of an 'erratic' woman acting. Upon arrival, police said, they found a woman nude in the kitchen lighting objects on fire.

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Two small children died in a Bronx shelter after being stabbed multiple times in the neck and torso, police said Saturday - shortly after arresting the boys' mother as a person of interest

Deputy Chief Louis De Ceglie of Patrol Borough Bronx said Saturday that the unnamed mother is currently in custody as a person of interest. She was arrested after being found naked in the apartment at 246 Echo Place

Despite 'acting irrational,' the woman was taken into custody without incident and brought to a nearby hospital for evaluation.

Minutes after officers left, the boys' father discovered the two children unresponsive in the bathtub of apartment, and called officers back a second time around 7:55 pm.

Before their arrival, neighbors helped the dad pull the boys from the tub - which was filled with water and covered with a bed sheet - and attempt to resuscitate them, DailyMail.com understands.

They were were transported to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where they were pronounced dead, according to police.

The mom is currently in custody as a person of interest, Deputy Chief Louis De Ceglie of Patrol Borough Bronx said Saturday at 11 pm outside the building at 246 Echo Place.

'Officers arrived and found a 22-year-old female naked inside of the apartment on the third floor acting irrational',' Chief De Ceglie told reporters outside the building.

De Ceglie said the initial report received by officers had warned of a 'female acting erratic, but non-violent,' with no weapons.  

'The officers took the female into custody without incident, and awaited the response of the ambulance.' 

Officers were thought to have missed the boys' bodies upon their first stop at the home, due to them being stashed in the bathroom at the time of their response.

At some point after before cops arrived a second time, the boys' panicked father made an impassioned plea for help upon discovering his sons' bodies.

Their 22-year-old mother was taken into custody around 7:50 pm, police said, after revealing the arrest came about a half hour before the bodies were discovered

Officers were thought to have missed the boys' bodies upon their first stop at the domicile, due to them being stashed in the bathroom at the time of their response. Officers had initially received a complaint of a woman without weapons 'acting erratic'

That call was reportedly heard by a neighbor a floor above on the fourth-floor, who helped the distraught dad pull the kids out of the tub when he found them and administer CPR.

Speaking to The New York Post, the neighbor, who asked not to be named, recounted the drama that unfolded in the less than 30-minute window after the woman's arrest and the boys being declared dead.

'I tried to give the little baby some air but it was too much,' the neighbor told the paper, alleging that cops and other emergency officials had 'walked past' the kids the first time. 'It's just sad.'

Another witness shared with the outlet how, amid the commotion, she heard the father frantically scream 'help me,' as he carried the boys' bloodied bodies through the building's hallway. 

Efforts to resuscitate the children, however, were ultimately unsuccessful, despite being administered by the aforementioned neighbor and an unidentified family member, cops said. 

Police found one of the children on the bed, and the other on the floor in the apartment. 

The medical examiner will determine the cause of death, police said.

The building at 246 Echo Place provides public housing to low-income families. Neighbors recounted the horror that unfolded as the father ran through the hallways with the boys' bloodied bodies asking for help

Efforts to resuscitate the children, however, were ultimately unsuccessful, despite being administered by the aforementioned neighbor and an unidentified family member, cops said

Meanwhile, the accounts of neighbors at the Bronx public housing building paint a picture that suggest the murders may have been the culmination of a domestic dispute, which were not unknown to family.

Shannon Holyfield, who lives down the hall from the family, said the boys' parents had been fighting earlier in the day. 

She said she heard the boys' father screaming and also saw him carrying their bloodied bodies, which had been naked.

'They were dead. They were dead. There was blood everywhere, it covered them,' Holyfield said, speaking to The Post.

The neighbor described the murders as 'horrible' and 'heartbreaking.'

'They are babies. The boys didn't deserve that.'

Police said there had been one previous call to the residence for a dispute 'several years ago.'

Other neighbors, including 47-year-old Charlotte Albi, confirmed that the couple  argued 'once in a while,' but said the mother mostly kept to herself. None provided a name for either family member.

'She never seemed distraught,' Albi said of the kids' mom. 'We'd be in the park and she'd put them on the swings. She never displayed no type of behavior like that at all.

'I don't know what happened. Why did it come to this?' she added. 'We just see her the other day. If you were in distress, bring those kids to us.'

The mother, who has not yet been declared an official suspect, remains in custody as a person of interest in the case. No charges have been filed.

Shannon Holyfield (pictured), who lives down the hall from the family at the Bronx shelter, said the boys' parents had been fighting earlier in the day

The mother, who has not yet been declared an official suspect, remains in custody as a person of interest in the case. No charges have been filed