Mom of twins yearned to see a friendly face

RedStar Tribune ^ | 07/08/03 | Tony Kennedy and Paul Gustafson

[Trinity5]

Mom of twins yearned to see a friendly face
Tony Kennedy and Paul Gustafson, Star Tribune,p.

Published July 8, 2003

In the minutes before Naomi Marie Gaines kissed her babies and threw them into the Mississippi River, she pushed them in a stroller up and down the Wabasha Street Bridge in St. Paul, yearning to see a friendly face or other single moms.

She wanted to join the Taste of Minnesota celebration on nearby Harriet Island, but instead she succumbed to the alienation she felt on the bridge. Suddenly, she wanted to kill herself and she didn't want to leave her twin 14-month-old boys behind in a hostile world.

That's what Gaines told police in an interview made public Monday in a second-degree murder charge filed against her in Ramsey County District Court.

Before heading for downtown, Gaines and the boys -- Sincere Understanding Allah and Supreme Knowledge Allah -- had been at a family picnic at Battle Creek Regional Park in St. Paul.

[Trinity5]

Not sure if this has been posted. But another example of Cultural Decline in the Twin Cities. Notice no one is blaming her, only everyone else for failing her.

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[Rummyfan]

"Sincere Understanding Allah and Supreme Knowledge Allah"

Is this a joke?

[CFC__VRWC]

Notice no one is blaming her, only everyone else for failing her.

How long do you suppose it takes Katie Couric to start flacking for her legal defense fund on the Today show, a la Andrea Yates?

[Rummyfan]

"Rhonda Ingram, a family friend, described Gaines as "a wonderful mother" but said the system had failed her."

And more of a joke - a wonderful mother? God save us!

[wideawake]

Wow.

I remember being stranded once in a foreign country after my wallet (with my plane ticket in it!) had been stolen and spending hours trying to find someone who could assist me in some way.

A friendly face would have been a welcome surprise, but none was forthcoming.

Somehow I managed not kill anyone, however.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

In a Bizarro world.

[dead]

I was hoping that somebody would compliment me on my new sneakers yesterday.

Nobody did, so I shot up a grocery store, killing six.

[r9etb]

I figured the mother was white, as it seems usually to be crazy white women who commit these sorts of crimes. The Islamic names for the kids made me wonder, though, and sure enough:

[ken5050]

Listen, considering it's in the RedStarTrib.....I'm surprised that W. isn't being blamed for this..

[ken5050]

Why can't any of those child advocate lawyers defend kids who get stupid names from their parents....

[CFC__VRWC]

And more of a joke - a wonderful mother? God save us!

Why is it that only those women who murder their kids, or those women whose kids grow up to become serial killers, get described as "wonderful mothers"?

[Humidston]

She's kind of attractive, in a soul-less sort of way....

[Lijahsbubbe]

Well, I do blame her for killing her child.

The system for treating mental illness, however, is severely lacking. There is a possibility that this baby could have been saved if there was a better system with the psychiatrists and pschologists.

[CFC__VRWC]

Listen, considering it's in the RedStarTrib.....I'm surprised that W. isn't being blamed for this..

Oh, I'm sure they'll get around to blaming him in jig time.

[Mears]

She gave birth to four kids in this hostile world? Shame on her!

I don't imagine the search for another single black mother would have benn too difficult either.

Those poor babies were doomed at conception with a mother like her.

[Sloth]

I've lost some weight, but nobody at church said anything, so I set fire to the building and picked people off with a rifle as they came running out.

[Alouette]

yearning to see a friendly face

"Friendly face" to a Muslim woman means: "hidden behind a niqab."

[martin_fierro]

"Sincere Understanding Allah and Supreme Knowledge Allah"

Her first choices were Orangejello and Lemonjello.

[EggsAckley]

Sincere Understanding Allah and brother, Supreme Knowledge Allah

Naomi Gaines

"Gaines' friends said Supreme Knowledge is being cared for by his father, Khalid Allah. They described Gaines as a talented rap singer who was nicknamed "Pleasant.""

[Xenalyte]

I was hoping that somebody would compliment me on my new sneakers yesterday. Nobody did, so I shot up a grocery store, killing six.

You BASTID! It better not have been that Philly grocery store that apparently sells all and only kosher food.

[bedolido]

yearning to see a friendly face

Did she look close into the face of her babies. They would've become her best friends.

[I still care]

Anyone who gives their kids names like that is NOT a wonderful mother. She had a screw loose from day one.

[1Old Pro]

What a sad story. The scary thing is that there are perhaps millions of children who have mentally ill parents.

[CatoRenasci]

This isn't about blame, it's about responsibility. She is responsible, and should be put away for the rest of her life. One can only feel sorry for the children of a mother such as this. They, at least are innocent and have done nothing to deserve any of this or what's coming.

[brbethke]

"Sincere Understanding Allah and Supreme Knowledge Allah" Is this a joke?

It's a religious cult thing. There's a group called the "Five Percenters" (or something like that) that all take names like this.

[brbethke]

Notice no one is blaming her, only everyone else for failing her.

Strangely enough, I *do* feel some sympathy for her. The woman has a bipolar disorder and was institutionalized, but some idjit judge ordered her released and her children restored to her custody. What she's done is horrendous, yes, but it was hardly done out of the blue and without warning.

[Salman]

"Sincere Understanding Allah" and "Supreme Knowledge Allah" are sort of Islamoid, but no real Muslim would name a child "Allah".

I'm guessing some local cult, or maybe she is simply insane.

[r9etb]

I'm guessing some local cult, or maybe she is simply insane.

One probably wouldn't be far off picking the latter.

[CygnusXI]

Allah is the father's (read, guy who knocked her up) last name IIRC.

[r9etb]

The woman has a bipolar disorder and was institutionalized, but some idjit judge ordered her released and her children restored to her custody.

Which also suggests that she had legal representation....

If what you say is true, then I think a legitimate case can be made that the system was working when it had put her in the asylum and taken away her kids, and that the system did fail her when it allowed this to happen.

It's cases like this that make one yearn for the good old days, when it was still permissible to call crazy people crazy.

[brbethke]

They're a splinter off the Nation of Islam that call themselves the Five Percenters. Black Supremacists, strong presence in prisons, etc. Do a google on "Five Percenters" and you'll learn lots of interesting things about them.

[brbethke]

If what you say is true

It might be. It was printed in the Pioneer Press, so I wouldn't stake my life on its utter veracity.

[Dianna]

No/space/key/today.Very/sorry

If what you say is true, then I think a legitimate case can be made that the system was working when it had put her in the asylum and taken away her kids, and that the system did fail her when it allowed this to happen.

As/women/and/mothers,we/need/to/take/responsibility/too.

AFAIK,one/doesn't/travel/from/complete/sanity/to/complete/insanity/in/a/moment.Did/she/realize/she/wasn't/coping/well?Did/she/try/to/get/the/children/to/someone/else?

Better/help/is/undoubtedly/needed,but/we/need/to/know-heed/our/own/limits/too.

No/more/posting/for/me/today!LOL!

[jocon307]

the "Five Percenters"

Aha! The mysterious Five Percenters, I've heard of them. From what I recall they are a bit loopy, but I have not heard they make a habit of killing their children.

[brbethke]

No, she did *that* because she's nuts and off her meds. The religious angle only explains the boys' somewhat unusual names.

[mlmr]

She has a beautiful face, such a horrible thing to do.

[Lijahsbubbe]

It most likely was at the recommendation of the psychiatrist. Most psychiatrists spend very little time with the patient, and they are the ones prescribing the drugs. They are not family friendly as far as including the family in evaluation, in fact I was told that it's very unusual to include the family in the treatment process.

The psychiatrists and psychologists do not seem to communicate with each other either. I takes sometimes weeks to get in to see a psychiatrist, no matter what the crisis is. And Human Services to my knowledge has no expertise in mental illness.

The whole system needs to be revamped. I am speaking as one who has a family member with a mental illness. You cannot instiutionalize someone with mental illness, unless they are a danger to themselves or others. And this is at the discretion of the intake person. They ask the patient, by the way, if they are going to commit suicide or harm someone. As if they can take the word of a person having a psychotic episode. It is a very frustrating situation. This is why sometimes it seems so odd when a person with a mental illness commits murder, and the public doesn't understand why the family didn't try to get help. Most families do, and many times their hands are tied, or the person doesn't seem harmful.

[Lijahsbubbe]

You were correct. I just read an article that said a judge dismissed the commitment order

[brbethke]

I've had a similar experience, I'm sorry to say. In some of my more cynical moments as we rode that downward spiral, I started to believe that the HS people might actually be *trying* to stall off intervening until [family member] was in a full-blown critical crisis. You see, that way there'd be plenty of work for all the counselors, shrinks, social workers, and so on.

Our story has a happy ending, thank God, but it took six years of sturm und drang to get to it. People who have not had close relations with someone who is mentally ill have no idea how hard it is to get help for someone who does not *want* to be helped.

Here's hoping your story has a happy ending.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Thank you so much and God Bless you. I know you must be an incredibly strong person.