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Melbourne Woman Commits Suicide With Four-Month-Old Baby In Her Arms, Jumping From Sixth-Floor Of Apartment Building

By Angelica N. Sumter
Published on: 20:49 PST, Jul 14, 2016

A 31-year-old Australian woman reportedly commits suicide with a four-month-old baby in her arms as she plummets from the sixth-floor of an apartment building, according to Daily Mail.

At approximately 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 14, witnesses say they saw a Melbourne woman, who was holding a baby in her arms that was believed to be her son, jump from the sixth floor of an internal balcony located in the City Point building.

Emergency responders were immediately called to the scene following the murder-suicide, where they discovered the bodies of the mother – who has not been identified – and her four-month-old baby in a courtyard “near the Chocolate Frog Cafe and the Whitehouse Institute of Design.”

However, paramedics were not able to revive the pair, as the Melbourne mother and her baby were pronounced dead at the scene. The bodies were removed from the area at approximately 2:30 p.m. and placed inside an “unmarked white van” that blocked the area so that bystanders were unable to see the bodies as they were being transferred into the van.

Roads were cornered off for a few hours while Melbourne police officials investigated the fatal fall. Police officials initially believed that the cause of the fall could have been the result of a broken balcony, but authorities later uncovered that the mother took her own life as well as her child’s life in a murder-suicide.

Melbourne police officials say that their deaths are not “being treated as suspicious.”

It was later determined that the woman was a resident at the luxury City Point building, living with her four-month-old baby boy and her husband, who is also the child’s father.

According to 9 News, the woman’s husband – whose name has not been released – later returned the Melbourne apartment, where police officials delivered the tragic news of his wife committing suicide by jumping to her death with their baby in her arms.

The man reportedly “collapsed in shock” and had to be transported to a local hospital, where he remains as police continue to investigate the death of his wife and child.

Bystander Christine Harms told reporters that she didn’t witness the murder-suicide, but she heard a woman’s “gut wrenching scream” after the mother jumped from her Melbourne apartment. She added that “a lady went into the alleyway and then there was some screaming.”

“I just kept hearing ‘Oh no. Oh no’. It was gut-wrenching to hear.”

A resident on the twenty-ninth floor told reporters that he didn’t hear anything unusual before the mother jumped to her death with her baby in her arms.

Another resident at the City Point building, Alex Champ, said he was shocked after learning about the murder-suicide. He went on to say that the incident was “crazy to think it just happened a few floors from me.”

Several construction workers, who witnessed the murder-suicide, were sent home for the day as the tragic incident was too much to cope with.

After the murder-suicide, the Melbourne woman’s family and relatives arrived at the scene, speaking with police officials and trying to uncover what could have possibly gone wrong to make the woman want to kill herself and her baby.

A man, who appeared visibly shocked by the mother jumping to her death, stated that they “don’t know what happened.”

It has yet to be determined why a mother would decide to take her own life, as well as that of her four-month-old baby boy, by jumping to her death from the balcony of her apartment building.

However, further information regarding the murder-suicide involving a Melbourne mother and her baby will not be released. Sergeant Anthoula Moutis stated, “Please note this is a sad time for the family, police will not be speaking about this incident.”

If any readers are contemplating suicide, they are strongly urged to contact or chat with the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

[Image via Getty Images/ Justin Sullivan]

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