Police: N.Y. woman kills self, two young daughters with nitrogen gas

A New York woman whose son committed suicide in April filled a bedroom with nitrogen gas early Tuesday, killing herself and her two young daughters, police said.

East Greenbush Police Chief Christopher Lavin told The Times that the woman, identified only as a 47-year-old, lugged a pair of 30-pound nitrogen gas canisters into the first-floor bedroom of her Rockrose Drive home and filled the room with the deadly gas.

Police arrived shortly before 2 a.m., and the woman and her young daughters were rushed to an area hospital, Lavin said. All three died a short time later. The girls were reported to be 6 and 9 years old.

Lavin said the woman’s 23-year-old son took his own life in early April, but he did not say if the death was linked to Tuesday’s incident. The Rensselaer County medical eExaminer ruled the killings a murder-suicide on Tuesday afternoon, Lavin said.

Lavin did not name the victims, but the Albany Times-Union identified them as Angela Mtambu and her daughters, Eudora and Cara.

The girls were not restrained, according to Lavin, who said the mother hooked each canister to medical tubing, and pumped the gas into plastic garbage bags that were placed over each victim’s head.

East Greenbush is a suburban town of about 16,000 residents located roughly six miles outside of Albany.

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