Article: Editorial: Help can halt an unthinkable action

Speculation will run rampant as to why a Newburgh woman did the unthinkable: Drive her minivan into the Hudson River, taking not only her life but the lives of three of her young, innocent children.
Some events sorrow the soul and go beyond what any words can adequately express. The community mourns these deaths and undoubtedly will search for answers, some of which, sadly, may never be forthcoming.
But it is clear, according to investigators, that before 25-year-old Lashanda Armstrong made this horrifying decision, she had been involved in a domestic altercation, something this area has seen far too many of, sometimes with deadly consequences.
In the last year in Dutchess County alone, four women have been killed in domestic-violence cases — and, in two of those cases, the men committed suicide. One of the women killed was pregnant and, in another, a City of Poughkeepsie police officer was shot and killed after responding to the domestic dispute.
On it seems to go, these horrendous tragedies, with no end in sight.
On Sunday, in the Town of Poughkeepsie, an auction was held to raise money for the Grace Smith House, which runs shelters and provides important services for domestic-violence victims. At that event, where about 250 people had gathered, Grace Smith board member Steven Chickery reminded everyone that calls to the shelter and to domestic-violence hotlines are up.
In one way, of course, this is a terrible thing. It means someone feels their safety is in jeopardy, and they need assistance.
In another way, though, the increase is encouraging — it means people are reaching out for help, realizing that they don't have to stay silent about the emotionally charged issues they may be confronting. For that, people need to have faith in the system.
It is, of course, far too early to ascertain what possible lessons can be learned from what happened in Newburgh on Tuesday night. Investigators will explore all avenues and scenarios, most certainly the mental state of Armstrong and whether she had been receiving any treatment.
But we do know this: Police say the drownings were related to an earlier call about a domestic dispute with the father of three of her four children. Just minutes later, Armstrong drove her vehicle into the river, killing herself and three of her children — two boys, 5 and 2, and an 11-month-old baby girl. The only ray of hope was the fact that another son, a 10-year-old, escaped through the minivan window after the vehicle plunged into the river.
This son swam ashore and got help. Just moments before, for whatever reason in the heat of the moment, his mother made a different decision. She didn't get help. And now four more people are dead. And now we are all left wondering how much sorrow could have been avoided if she had.