A Manhattan lawyer committed suicide yesterday by jumping from her eighth floor Harlem apartment with her 10-month-old son strapped to her chest. Miraculously, the child survived with minor injuries. Cynthia Wachenheim, 44, was an associate attorney for the New York State Supreme Court and graduated from Columbia Law School. According to her neighbor Christian Johnson, yesterday she had a loud argument with her husband, who works in sales.
“He was yelling at her today,” Johnson tells the Daily News. “It made me stop and listen. He was asking her why she wouldn’t pick up the phone. He kept repeating it. Then, the baby started crying.” Shortly before 1 p.m. the husband, Hal Bacharach, left the upscale Bradhurst Avenue building, called The Sutton. Less than three hours later, Wachenheim jumped to her death.
Two NYPD officers happened to be sitting in their patrol car outside the building and saw the horrible incident. The baby, Keston, was on Wachenheim's chest in a harness, but she landed on her back and the child survived. "I heard a scream, a scared scream," witness Steven Dominguez tells the Post. "I noticed a woman was falling. As she was coming down, she was coming down on her back. I saw the baby bounce on her chest and fall to the concrete. The baby started crying."
A seven page suicide note was found in the home. One police source tells the Daily News, "The note said she was not happy and she talked about what she planned to do... saying to her husband, ‘I love you. I’m making you suffer. You’re going to think I’m evil.' She thinks she’s a failing mother. On the last page, she refers to postpartum depression. She was supposed to see a therapist, but she blew him off." The source also says Wachenheim was convinced her baby had cerebral palsy, but doctors insisted the child was healthy.
"They looked like a really happy family," another neighbor tells DNAinfo. "I never would have thought she would be dead." Wachenheim, a Columbia Law School graduate, was still on maternity leave from her $118,000-a-year job in the city court system. The Daily News reports that she worked there for more than 15 years doing research and writing for judges. A courts spokesman said, "All of us in the court family are saddened by this tragic incident. Our thoughts are with her family during this difficult time."
If someone you know exhibits warning signs of suicide: do not leave the person alone, remove any firearms, alcohol, drugs or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt, and call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.
