The deaths of two 5-year-old twins found vomiting and foaming at the mouth in their Bronx apartment were both ruled homicides, the city Medical Examiner said in a shock announcement.
An autopsy determined that the siblings – originally believed to be killed in a “medical emergency” – were smothered to death in December 2023, the examiner told The Post late Wednesday.
Emergency responders found George and Gianna Katanka on the living room floor of their apartment on East 175th Street near Weeks Avenue in Mount Hope on Dec. 18, authorities and sources said at the time.
A day later, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters that all signs pointed to a tragic incident.
“All reports were that Mom was well engaged with everything to do with these two children,” Kenny said at a press briefing.
“She was an active participant with their medical care, an active participant in their schooling,” he said. “Neighbors say she was doting, and they were a quiet, loving family. At this time until the ME [medical examiner] says something different, it just appears to be a medical tragedy.”
The twins — “special needs” children, according to Kenny — had been ailing and stayed home from school the day both were found dead.
The boy had been sick for as long as two weeks with cold symptoms and was sent home from school the week before. His sister had been suffering from an ear infection, and had been vomiting and “acting irrational,” the mother told police, with the behavior described as “biting and spitting at school,” Kenny said.
Law enforcement sources said the twins’ mother was so distressed over her children’s deaths that she had to be hospitalized for observation.
The kids’ father — who was at work at the time — rushed home after learning what had happened, according to the sources.
“I’m not good,” the distraught dad told The Post a day after the deaths. “I lost my two kids. Not good.”
The news came as a shock to neighbors, who said they only knew the grieving mom as a doting parent who barely let the kids out of her sight.
“She never let them walk by themselves. She always held their hands,” said Lansana Damsoko, a longtime tenant of the apartment building.
“She waited in the [foyer] for the school bus to come and she held onto their hands and took them upstairs,” Damsoko added. “They were happy kids. Happy kids.”
No arrests had been made in connection to the twins’ deaths by Thursday, the NYPD said.
