1-month-old boy died after his 27-year-old mother drowned him in the stream just because she thought the “people who were trying to kill her would take the boy away;” mother charged

Connecticut – In a deeply unsettling case out of Connecticut, a 27-year-old woman, identified as S. Fleming, has been charged with murder with special circumstances and risk of injury to a child after investigators say she drowned her one-month-old son during a severe mental health crisis. The young mother, whose history of psychiatric treatment stretches back years, was reportedly in a state of paranoia and delusion when she led her infant to a nearby brook and ended his life. Authorities say Fleming’s actions were driven by a deep fear that “people who were trying to kill her would take the boy away,” a belief fueled by ongoing hallucinations and untreated mania.

The tragedy began to unfold on the morning of June 8, 2025, when a family member contacted authorities to report both Fleming and her infant son, Hudson, missing. That call triggered a Silver Alert, and state police began searching the area. The family member told officers that Fleming had been hearing voices for the past week and showed signs of deteriorating mental health. Later that day, officers found Fleming walking alone along a rural road. According to police, her clothing was soaking wet and her mental state appeared to be altered. When they asked her repeatedly where her baby was, she responded blankly, “what baby?” Roughly an hour later, the search ended in heartbreak. The boy’s body was discovered in the stream, not far from where Fleming had been spotted. The infant had been drowned.

In the days leading up to the killing, Fleming had reportedly reached out for help. Police say she contacted her doctor for a telehealth appointment, explaining that she was feeling manic and paranoid. Yet, because she was breastfeeding, the doctor declined to prescribe new medications—despite the fact that Fleming was already on several prescribed drugs. A report released after her arrest revealed Fleming had been receiving mental health treatment since 2019 after she began experiencing hallucinations and engaging in self-harm. She was also the subject of an open DCF investigation at the time of the incident. Records show that child welfare services had been working with the family for just over a month following the baby’s birth, and at the time, Fleming and her son were staying in a home with extended family. The case was closed shortly before the drowning, with officials citing that she was receiving wraparound services, including in-home support.

Despite this, her mental state quickly deteriorated. Fleming reportedly told investigators that she had been consumed by fear in the hours before the murder, waking up in the dark, taking her mother’s purse, and trying to flee in her mother’s car from “people who were trying to kill her.” She said those paranoid thoughts had returned a few days earlier, when the idea of “Illuminati people” targeting her had taken root again. Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families released a statement expressing condolences for the baby’s death and offered support for those affected by the trauma. “Our sincere condolences are with this infant’s family who continue to grieve his untimely death,” the statement read.

Authorities confirmed Fleming is being held on a $5 million bond while awaiting trial. Though legal proceedings remain ongoing, the facts of the case paint a devastating picture: a mother, consumed by delusion and fear, took the life of her newborn while the system that once supported her watched from a distance. The tragedy has left behind not only a grieving family but also haunting questions about how—and why—intervention failed when it was needed most.