Toddler twins die after found in car on I-95 ramp, driver tried to kill herself, cops say
Three-year-old fraternal twins died in the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning after they were found unresponsive in a car on Interstate 95 in north Miami-Dade County, shortly after the woman driving the car attempted to kill herself, police said.
Around 2 a.m., police received a 911 call from a passerby about an unresponsive child, followed by another call reporting a second unconscious child, police said.
“One person is performing CPR on one child,” a dispatcher told Miami-Dade Fire Rescue paramedics via radio.
When officers arrived at the northbound exit to Florida’s Turnpike extension, the woman who had been driving the vehicle was out of the car and then “went over the railing of the on-ramp,” landing on the Tri-Rail tracks, which run under the Golden Glades interchange, Det. Andre Martin, a police spokesman, told reporters near the scene.
“The mom jumped off the highway; she is on the train tracks,” a first responder told the dispatcher. “The woman who jumped is still alive,” another said moments later.
In a statement later Friday, police said her jump was a “suicide attempt.”
Rescuers found the twins, a boy and a girl, in the back seat of the car and took them to a hospital where they were declared dead, Martin said. The children did not exhibit any readily visible marks or wounds, Det. Angel Rodriguez told the Miami Herald.
Milson Cadet confirmed in an interview with the Herald Friday evening the children in the car were his children. Standing in the doorway of his North Miami Beach apartment and visibly shaken, he said his son was named Milendhere Gabriel Napoleon Cadet and his daughter was Milenjhit Gabriella Napoleon Cadet.
A family friend said the driver was Shirlene Alcime, who is Milson Cadet’s wife.
“I don’t know if she is going through something or not,” said the friend, who did not want to be named. “I’m trying to figure out what’s happening.”
In the interview, conducted in Creole and translated by the Herald, Cadet tried to explain what he knew:
“I went to work at 5 a.m. Thursday, I returned home at 10:45. I did not see the wife home. I did not see the children. I went to go check in the office ..I did not see her in the office and I started calling. She never picked up the phone and I didn’t know what happened. I have a child who is 18 years old who lives in the house with me. I told the child, ‘If I don’t find her, I will have no choice but to call the police.’
“I don’t know what happened,’’ he added. “She is not someone who has mental problems. She is someone who works ... who is working in the Haitian community. We have ... a business. I don’t know what happened.”
Alcime was taken to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital in critical condition.
Authorities shut down the I-95 ramp, as well as the westbound off-ramp of State Road 826 on Friday morning.
Tri-Rail trains experienced delays “due to police activity on the tracks” for several hours,” the train company said on X, formerly Twitter.
The tracks have been cleared for railroad traffic. Trains may experience residual delays today due to earlier police activity.
— Tri-Rail (@Tri_Rail) February 2, 2024
Recent financial issues
The family lived at Prestige Estates in North Miami Beach.
The apartment complex advertises itself as modern living. The complex, with its newly painted buildings, had children playing, diving in a pool and wandering over walkways Friday evening.
Alcime lived in the complex for at least a year and has been at financial odds with the landlord twice, most recently in September, according to Miami-Dade County Clerk of the Court records.
In both instances, Prestige Boardwalk LLC., owner of the complex, sued Alcime, threatening to evict her if she did not reimburse them for a missed rent payment, according to court documents. In both cases, the two parties settled and the payment was made.
In the year between the two cases, Alcime’s monthly rent payments went up about $800, documents show.
In other financial strains, Alcime still has an open eviction case against her from a different landlord, R.N.M Investment Group, Inc., filed in early 2023.
According to the Florida Division of Corporations, Alcime is the registered agent of 10 businesses, including Bazou Tax Multiservices, LLC, which she owns with Cadet.
On her Facebook page, she offers several services, including life insurance, investing, credit repair and notary.
Miami Herald Staff Writers Charles Rabin and Jacqueline Charles contributed to this report.
If you or someone you know is thinking about self-harm, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988. It’s available 24/7.
