Murder of the Krim siblings

On the afternoon of October 25, 2012, Lucia "Lulu" Krim, age 6, and her brother Leo Krim, age 2, were killed at the La Rochelle apartment building at 57 West 75th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Their part-time caretaker, Yoselyn Ortega, stabbed the children to death with kitchen knives while their mother, Marina Krim, and three-year-old sister Nessie were nearby at a swimming lesson. The children had lived with their parents, Marina and Kevin Krim, after the family relocated to New York from San Francisco in 2010. Kevin Krim worked as a digital content executive at CNBC, and Marina Krim was a former kindergarten teacher who stayed at home with the children.

Marina Krim returned to the apartment earlier than planned after Ortega failed to appear at a scheduled ballet lesson. Finding the apartment dark and quiet, she briefly left, spoke with the building's doorman, and then returned with Nessie. In the bathroom, she discovered Leo and Lucia, clothed, with multiple stab wounds, in a blood-filled bathtub. Ortega, found on the floor beside the tub, then slashed her own wrists and stabbed herself repeatedly in the neck and throat; she survived her self-inflicted injuries. The scene was also witnessed by the building superintendent and his young son. Kevin Krim learned of the killings from police at John F. Kennedy Airport upon returning from a business trip.

Ortega told investigators that Lucia had fought back and sustained defensive wounds, while Leo had reportedly been asleep when the attack began. Ortega, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from the Dominican Republic, was reported by police and acquaintances to have expressed frustration over pay and hours, though family and friends of both households described her as close to the children and well treated by the Krims. She was deemed mentally competent to stand trial by two New York State psychiatrists and was held at the Elmhurst Hospital Prison Ward psychiatric unit without bail while awaiting trial.

Ortega was indicted in November 2012 on two counts of first-degree murder. Over roughly five years and about 90 court appearances, the case proceeded to trial. In April 2016, the presiding judge offered Ortega a plea deal of 30 years to life, which she rejected over prosecutors' objections. Jury selection concluded on February 22, 2018, and opening statements began March 1, 2018, in Manhattan Supreme Court. Ortega pleaded not guilty and pursued a psychiatric defense, arguing she was mentally ill and not responsible for her actions; prosecutors argued she was sound-minded. On April 18, 2018, she was found guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree murder. On May 14, 2018, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In the aftermath, the Krim family established the Lulu & Leo Fund, a nonprofit supporting creative education for disadvantaged children. In 2018, New York State enacted "Lulu & Leo's Law," making it a crime to knowingly misrepresent a child caregiver's qualifications when applying for work.