A funeral service for LaShonda Armstrong was held at First Baptist Church in Spring Valley today (April 21). Armstrong made headlines when she drove her car into the Hudson River in Newburgh, drowning herself and three of her children, after learning their father was cheating on her.
At the request of the kids father, Jean Pierre, funeral services for Armstrong's three children will be held on Monday, and burials will be at a separate grave site.
According to My FOX DC, Armstrong's family opposed the separate services and burials, but Pierre had legal authority as the father to make the decision, said Armstrong's aunt Angela Gilliam.
“If he loved LaShanda with all his heart, he would not be separating his children from their mother,” Gilliam said in a phone interview.
Pierre's attorney, Michael O'Connor, said his client always wanted separate services and made his intentions known as soon as he learned about the arrangements.
“It was not a change of mind on behalf of Mr. Pierre,” O'Connor said. “Because of miscommunication of whatever, he was not in on the initial consultation of how arrangements were going to be made.”
Pierre offered his condolences to the Armstrong family in his statement. O'Connor said Pierre wanted to attend Armstrong's funeral but would stay away because he did not want to be a distraction. Armstrong said the family remained strong and would not let Pierre's actions affect them.
“I'll come to his little cheesy services,” Gilliam said, adding that Pierre had chosen “some little, low-budget, welfare kind of cemetery” for the children's final resting place.
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