14 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 29, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Tears shed in Woodside at vigil for twin babies allegedly slain by mother
BY DEAN MOSES
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th ey never had a chance to
know Dallis or Dakota Bentley,
or see them grow up in their corner
of Woodside. Th e twin babies
were just 46 days old when the
person who gave them life allegedly
took it from them.
Woodside residents continue
to reel from the horrifi c murders
of the Bentley twins, who
were found dead at the Woodside
Houses on 51st Street on the
aft ernoon of April 22. On April
26, community members gathered
outside the public housing
complex to mourn their deaths
with a candlelight vigil.
Th e twins’ mother, 23-yearold
Danezja Kilpatrick, currently
faces fi rst- and second-degree
murder charges in connection
with the shocking murder. She’s
currently being held in jail without
bail, and was ordered to
undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Aft er the news of the heartwrenching
April 22 discovery
spread, a shrine to the newborns
popped up just outside of
NYCHA complex.
Before the vigil even began,
passersby could not help but look
upon the collection of candles,
signs and stuff ed animals with
shaking heads and heavy hearts,
some even commenting to themselves,
“All she had to do was
bring them to me.”
Th e April 26 vigil was led by
Reverend Oswald Denis and
joined by state Attorney General
Letitia James, NYPD Housing
PSA 9 Captain Christopher
Giambrone, President of
Woodside Houses Tenants
Association Annie Cotton Morris
and community members.
Beginning with a prayer and
surrounded by a circle of those
clutching candles and the
strings of balloons, Denis’
eyes welled up as he
repeated the twins’ names.
James also spoke, telling the
gathering that she could not get
the babies out of her mind.
“We should not grieve
alone; we have to
grieve together as
a community. But
I also know that
God loves the little
babies. He
loves the
little children,
and
he loves
twins in
p a r -
ticular — two hearts that beat as
one, two hearts that were born,
and now two hearts that have
gone on to be with our lord and
savior,” James said.
Attendees wiped away
tears from their eyes as speakers
memorialized the newborns.
Saying their fi nal farewell, the
mourners released balloons into
the night sky as they spoke the
babies’ names.
Aft er the vigil, some took a
knee beside the shrine and said
silent prayers.
Natalie, a fellow resident of
Woodside Houses, kneeled
beside the fl ickering fl ames
and refl ected on the last number
of days and the few times
she had seen Kilpatrick with the
twins while taking her own son
to school. Natalie described the
mother as seeming merely tired.
She told amNewYork Metro
that she believes Kilpatrick suffered
from postpartum depression,
since she too experienced
the disorder aft er giving birth.
“Postpartum depression really
is real for us women; a lot of people
don’t understand that it is a
big thing. My child is now 3 years
old, and I went through it with
my own situation. But I had help
because I asked for help. Some
people ask for help and some
don’t, but I am sympathetic of
whatever she was going through,”
Nataile said aft er the vigil.
Kilpatrick faces a maximum
sentence of life without parole if
convicted.
Photos by Dean Moses
Woodside residents mourn during the vigil on Monday, April 26.
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