The mother of the 3-year-old boy who, police believe, was thrown off a 52-story New York apartment before his father took his own life, is now speaking out.
Svetlana Kanarikov said, in a statement, that the father, Dmitriy Kanarikov, killed the 3-year-old out of "spite" and that she was "nervous" about him being unsupervised with the child. The two parents were in the middle of a messy divorce. (Via WITN)
Svetlana reportedly had temporary legal custody of the child, Kirill. She was supposedly uncomfortable with visits between the father and son, but, during a Dec. 5 court hearing, she softened her stance and allowed three-hour-long visits on Sundays.
Svetlana handed the boy over to Dmitriy at 10 a.m. Sunday at the New York Police Department's 17th Precinct Station with the understanding he would be returned later that day. There are conflicting reports on whether this was the father's time alone with the child since the breakup.
The New York Post claims the two were unsupervised for visits on Dec. 8 and Dec. 15 and both went well.
But The New York Times reports this was the first unsupervised visit "in several months."
Dmitriy reportedly told his parents he was taking Kirill to Grand Central Station during the visit, but instead went to the top of the 52-story apartment building and, police say, threw the boy off before jumping to his own death. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The boy died at a local hospital. (Via WNBC)
In the statement, Svetlana says, "When we first separated Dmitriy told me that he would leave me alone only if I left him everything we had together. Money and assets were most important to him. He said he would take the child away and I will 'shoot myself from grief.'" (Via The Daily Beast)
She says Dmitry never did anything violent to Kirill before but had previously made threats against her. Police are still investigating the case.
