New York City Police responded to a horrifying call for help in early 2021, after a mother reportedly leaped to her death off an apartment building in Manhattan. The story was made all the more tragic when it was discovered that the mother wasn't alone — she jumped from the New York City high-rise with her 5-year-old child in her arms.
The mother has since been identified as 39-year-old Oksana Patchin.
Patchin reportedly lived in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, but she and her 5-year-old daughter, Olivia, traveled to a high-rise building on west 53rd Street, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, where they were believed to have been visiting friends.
Sometime after their arrival, however, they made their way to the roof of the building, where Patchin leaped to the ground below with her daughter in her arms.
Both mother and daughter plunged 12 stories to the pavement below.
Their bodies were found shortly afterward by police officers, who responded to a 911 call from the scene around 1:45 p.m. Both victims were unconscious and badly injured, as they lay motionless in the front courtyard of the apartment complex.
Despite being immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, both mother and daughter were quickly pronounced dead.
The apparent murder-suicide came as a shock to residents of the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood.
"It really shook me up that it happened," said one tenant identified only as Bryan. "It's very, very disturbing."
It remains unclear what exactly sparked the incident, if in fact anything triggered it at all. In fact, a family friend told the New York Post that she was unaware the mother was even struggling.
"Everything was going great with her," the friend told the newspaper, speaking anonymously. "I can't believe this. This is terrible."
At some point during her visit, the mother allegedly asked the friend for her keycard.
Patchin claimed that she wanted to show her daughter the rooftop view of the city, and it appears that the unexpected request didn't set off any alarm bells.
Rooftop cameras later captured the final, heart-pounding moments of the mother's life, as well as her daughter's. In the footage she can be seen pacing around the roof before climbing over a safety gate. Then she swiftly picked up her daughter and jumped off the edge.
According to police sources, Patchin didn't appear to have left a suicide note.
At least one tenant who saw her that day noted something was wrong, however. Later speaking through tears with reporters, the tenant noted that the mother had appeared "very distraught," though the person failed to provide further details.
The New York Post reported that Patching had divorced her husband last summer and had a prior history of mental illness — both of which could have been contributing factors, though that is pure speculation at this point.
A woman holding her daughter in her arms jumped off the roof of a 13-story Hell's Kitchen building on W. 53rd St. near 11th Ave., killing both of them.
The mother was 39 and her child was believed to be between ages 4 and 5.https://t.co/l7KgSseg3C
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) January 11, 2021
Patchin's social media accounts also left behind few clues.
According to her Facebook and LinkedIn pages, the mother is originally from the Ukraine and graduated with an accounting degree from Baruch College in 2013 before becoming a CPA. She uploaded a smiling headshot in July of 2020, along with a photo of two smiling children.
Sadly, this was the second such tragedy to befall New York City at that time.
Just three weeks earlier, another Brooklyn woman jumped to her death from a Manhattan high-rise.
In that case, however, the woman — who was identified as 24-year-old Yocheved Gourarie — jumped alone. Friends and family said that Gourarie struggled for years with anorexia and depression, which is something she chronicled openly on her Instagram account. Sadly, she even posted a "farewell" message to her followers just days before her death.
"If you're reading this, I'm gone," she wrote in the chilling post. "Either that or somehow incapacitated in the hospital so I can't delete this scheduled post. I really hope I'm not though."
Note: If you or any of your loved ones are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can always reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-8255. They are available 24/7 by phone or online chat.
