NJ mom worked at daycare same day she killed kids for religious purposes: cops

The New Jersey mother accused of drowning her toddler daughters worked at a daycare earlier in the day, and told police she murdered her children for “religious purposes,” authorities said.Naomi Elkins, 27, was arrested at her home in Lakewood on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after her 1- and 3-year-old daughters were pronounced dead by emergency medical services.During an interview with police, Elkins explained that she worked at a Giggles Daycare that day, according to the arrest documents obtained by The Post.Elkins’ daughters attended the daycare while she worked there, and they used a car service to travel to and from the location, the suspect said.When Elkins arrived home with the children, “she believed she needed to kill the children for religious purposes,” the criminal complaint stated.Elkins told police that she stabbed and “slightly punctured”one of her daughters with a knife before running a bath.She then allegedly brought one of the children into the bathroom and held her underwater for two to three minutes.At that point, Elkins said, the other child ran into the second bathroom screaming.Elkins followed the girl and ran a bath in that room, which she then placed the child in and held her underwater.“She said that she counted to 50 multiple times to ensure she held them underwater for enough time,” the criminal complaint stated.Elkins told police that she then realized she had done something wrong, and called the Hatzolah Medical Services saying that she hurt her children.Elkins originally reached the Hatzolah branch in Brooklyn, but eventually made contact with the Lakewood service, the document said.According to Elkins, she went outside the family’s home to direct the first responders to her children, who were both found naked and wet.The Hatzolah volunteers alerted the Lakewood Police to the scene, where both children were pronounced dead shortly after 5 p.m.One of the children was found with a “deep laceration: in the middle of h...