Mother Drove Into River Trying To Kill 3 Kids

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Three New Jersey teens frantically used their cellphones to call for help from a sinking van after their troubled mother drove them into a river, their father said Thursday.

Ultimately, a passer-by helped all four escape from the cold Delaware River in Florence Township, N.J., after one sibling kicked out a window.

“They did all the right things,” said the father, Jeffrey Smith. “I just thank God that they got out safely.”

Police said Joann Smith, of Florence, tried to drown the three children, ages 13 to 15. She was charged with attempted murder and child endangerment and was being held on $600,000 bail.

Jeffrey Smith said he received a call from his daughter around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday after the car went off a boat ramp about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia. He said his two sons in the van were simultaneously trying to call 911, but one was cut off when the phone got wet.

Smith said he was about 15 miles away running an errand with the couple’s eldest son when he got the call.

About the same time, township resident Darnell Taylor said he and his wife were driving by the boat ramp when he noticed the partially submerged van in the river. He told WCAU-TV that he got out of his car, heard screaming and jumped in the water.