Boy, 3, Rallies a Day After Being Dropped 50 Feet Into L.A. River : Tragedy: The child’s brother died after they were allegedly tossed from bridge by mother. Their father says, ‘I don’t know why this happened.’

A 3-year-old boy was making a strong recovery Wednesday, a day after his mother threw him from a bridge into frigid water, although it remains a mystery why the woman tossed the boy and his younger brother from the 50-foot-high span, authorities said.

In a barely audible voice, the boys’ father, Michael Alan Fleming, told reporters: “I don’t know why this happened.

“My family has suffered a tragic loss,” Fleming said in the hospital where his older son was recovering. “My family was my world. This has been a shock and there are really no words to express it. My little boy is dead and my other little boy is . . . fighting for his life.”

Michael Robert Fleming was scheduled to be taken off a respirator soon to begin breathing on his own, little more than a day after he was pulled, near death, from the Los Angeles River. His 22-month-old brother, Craig, died. Their mother, Donna, is in custody on charges of murder and attempted murder.

The boy’s rapid recovery provided a glimmer of redemption in a grim story, inspiring an outpouring of gifts and phone calls to the Long Beach hospital where the youngster is recovering.

“I think he’ll be up and around very shortly,” said Dr. William Perkins, director of the pediatric intensive care unit at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach. “I think he’s fairly lucky.”

Donna Fleming, 23, is being held without bail in the jail ward of County-USC Medical Center. She is scheduled for arraignment this afternoon in Long Beach Municipal Court on one count of murder and one count of attempted murder.

Witnesses said she walked to the middle of the Ocean Boulevard Bridge over the river Tuesday morning and, one by one, threw her sons over the railing, before jumping in herself. Lifeguards plucked all three from the water, but the boys were blue and suffering from hypothermia. The older boy’s body temperature was 80 degrees when he reached the hospital after spending at least 20 minutes in the water, said Perkins, the emergency room director.

Police said they had no further information Wednesday as to the woman’s motive and the boys’ father also offered no insight into why the tragedy occurred.

Michael Fleming had told police who came to the home on a domestic violence call in June that his wife had been depressed for several months and was suffering psychological problems, said Los Angeles Police Detective Julie D. Nelson. Such an accusation is not uncommon in domestic disputes, and officers observed “no red flags, no indication of the emotional problems she was obviously suffering,” Nelson said.

Fleming declined to comment on reports of domestic violence. Police said they had been called six times in a little more than a year on battery and abuse complaints and Fleming, 37, was twice convicted of battery.

“I do not want to comment on any of the stories that have been circulating in the media regarding my marriage and family life,” said Fleming, a mustachioed man with a ponytail who works at a Wilmington oil refinery. “I do not want to interfere in any way with the police investigation.

“Right now, all I want to do is be there for Mikie,” Fleming added.

Meanwhile, prosecutors conceded that previous charges of spousal battery against Fleming had not been consolidated, possibly allowing him to receive a lighter sentence for the multiple attacks on his wife.

When two of the domestic violence cases against Fleming landed simultaneously in San Pedro Municipal Court, prosecutors were apparently unaware that the defendant was facing two similar charges, said Teddy Eden, supervising attorney for the San Pedro office.

The first case involved a March, 1994, incident in which Donna Fleming accused her husband of cheating on her. He grabbed her by the neck and head and shook her, leaving “redness on her face and neck,” a police report said.

A second case arose in June, 1994, when police twice came to the apartment on domestic violence complaints.

Battery charges were filed separately on the March case and the two June cases, with both arriving in court for settlement Aug. 1, 1994, Eden said. Fleming pleaded no contest to battery charges in two separate courtrooms--which are a door apart in the San Pedro courthouse--possibly avoiding a stiffer sentence that might have been imposed if the repeat nature of the offenses was known, Eden said.

Fleming received a $300 fine in the March case and, in the court next door, 10 days in jail on the June cases. Each case also resulted in three years probation and an order for domestic violence counseling, which Fleming has been attending.

“My first thought was the same as yours,” Eden told a reporter. “That it was interesting that he was able to slip through the system. The system can break down when we don’t have as much information as we can about people.”

But Eden said he did not know all the details of Fleming’s cases and that it would be “self-serving” to suggest that he would have received a stiffer punishment if the nature of the crimes had been known. The prosecutor said that new computers are being installed in the city attorney’s office to help track multiple cases involving the same defendant and that the court has also changed its policy and distributes cases to courtrooms alphabetically to increase the chance of spotting repeat offenders when other systems fail.

Despite the Flemings’ previous contacts with the justice system, Donna Fleming did not take advantage of programs for domestic violence victims, authorities said. Los Angeles police said she did not follow through with their recommendation that she obtain a restraining order against her husband. The San Pedro women’s shelter that routinely counsels abuse victims said it has no record of a call from the woman.

“She refused any kind of assistance and refused to get a restraining order as she was advised,” Nelson said.

Connie McFall, executive director of Rainbow Services, said: “We do follow-up with all (domestic violence) incident reports from LAPD, but we have no way to impose our services on women.”

Several well-wishers dropped by the intensive care unit at the Long Beach hospital to leave cards or gifts for the recovering boy.

Christine Tibbetts of Covina brought a stuffed lion and a drawing of the “Lion King” cartoon character from her two daughters.

“The lion represents courage, so hopefully that will do something for him,” Tibbetts said.