Bio

Naomi Marie Gaines was born on February 3, 1979. She spent her early years in public housing. Some accounts say she grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes projects in Chicago. Other accounts say she grew up in Milwaukee and moved to Minnesota after her first child was born.

She became a mother as a teenager. Her first child, Jalani, was born on January 1, 1996, when she was 16. She later married Nathaniel Ellis on March 19, 1999, and the marriage ended within a year. She worked as a receptionist at Highland Family Physicians and was listed as earning about $19,200.

Over time she had four children. She also had a daughter named Kaylah. She and the twins’ father, Khalid Allah, knew each other from a recording studio. Friends and family helped care for the children at times.

Naomi had repeated mental health problems documented in medical and court records. Doctors diagnosed her with major depression with psychotic features. Medical files also list schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She had earlier suicide attempts, including cutting her wrists.

In August 2002 she was taken to a hospital after being found walking and singing in public with her children. At a court hearing on August 7, 2002, she agreed to get psychiatric treatment and to take neuroleptic medication. Social workers and nurses visited her home for months to make sure she took her medication. Friends and relatives said she kept asking for help and that the family tried to support her. She was also involved in music and performed as a vocalist under the name Naomi or "Pleasant."

Murder Story

Naomi Marie Gaines was born February 3, 1979. On July 4, 2003, in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, she threw her 14-month-old twin sons, Sincere Understanding Allah and Supreme Knowledge Allah, off the Wabasha Street Bridge into the Mississippi River. She then jumped into the river and was pulled from the water by bystanders. She was arrested the same day after a suicide attempt.

Sincere drowned and his body was found two days later about 11 miles downriver. Supreme survived and was cared for by his father. Gaines told police she and the twins would be "better off dead." Reports said she was on neuroleptic medication.

After the incident, a doctor found Gaines was suffering from psychosis and unable to care for herself. She was committed to the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter for evaluation. Gaines pleaded guilty on August 13, 2004, and was sentenced to 19 years in prison for murder and 14 years for attempted murder.

Classification: murderer. Characteristics: parricide; history of mental illness. Number of victims: 1. Date of murder: July 4, 2003. Date of arrest: same day. Location: Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA. Victim profile: her son Sincere Understanding Allah, 14 months.