Officials: Staten Island mom killed 4 kids, then self

Autopsy results have revealed a Staten Island woman killed her four children and then took her own life in a bizarre murder-suicide last week, city officials said Thursday.

Results of the autopsy indicated that Leisha Jones' children died when she cut their throats or they inhaled smoke from a fire she set, said a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner. Jones, 32, also died as a result of smoke inhalation officials said.

The autopsy findings mark a reversal of the earlier preliminary determination by police that Jones' son, Raymond Romoy, 14, appeared to have slit the throats of two younger sisters, Melanie, 7, and Brittany, 10. Romoy, also known as C.J. Raymond, had then set the fire and slit his own throat, according to the original police theory. His brother, 2, died of smoke inhalation and burns, according to the autopsy results.

Police focused their attention on Romoy because he had been seen earlier the day of the fatal arson setting small fires around the outside of the Port Richmond house.

Police officials also said that unidentified pills were found in the stomachs of Jones and her eldest son.

But Thursday Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the city medical examiner, said no pills were found.