Mom throws 3 of her kids into the SF bay

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Thread started 10/21/05 5:36pm

ReturnOfDOOK

Mom throws 3 of her kids into the SF bay

This is so sad. sad

http://www.mercurynews.co...963730.htm

Mom accused of throwing kids in bay pleads innocent

By Mary Anne Ostrom and John Woolfolk

Mercury News

An attorney representing an Oakland woman accused of tossing her three young children off a pier to their deaths in San Francisco Bay pleaded not guilty on her behalf to charges of murder and child assault at a court hearing this morning.

A drowsy-looking Lashuan Harris, 23, shuffled into the San Francisco Superior Court room wearing an oversized orange jail suit, with her hair close-cropped and her lawyer's hand on her back.

When Judge Lucy K. McCabe asked if she would waive her right to a speedy trial, Harris softly replied: ``yes.'' It was her only comment. Her appointed lawyer, Teresa Caffese, chief attorney in the public defender's office, pleaded ``not guilty'' on Harris' behalf.

Authorities have charged Harris with three counts each of murder and assaulting a child. She was arrested Wednesday afternoon shortly after 5:30 p.m. when a yet-unidentified eyewitness phoned police to report a woman throwing children off the end of the 500-foot-long Pier 7 off the Embarcadero near the historic Ferry Building.

The witness reported seeing her strip the children naked and heaving them into the 55-degree water. Police arrived minutes later and found Harris pushing an empty baby stroller back from the end of the pier and complaining of hearing voices.

Searchers recovered the body of Harris' 2 1/2-year-old son Taronta Greely, Jr., later that night after it washed ashore on a beach near a yacht club. Her two other children, 6-year-old Trayshuan Harris and 16-month-old Joshua Greely, are feared dead, but their bodies have not been recovered.

None of Harris' family appeared at the five-minute court hearing. Harris is being held in a jail medical ward without bail. She is due back in court Oct. 28.

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who appeared alongside Caffese at the hearing, said he would request bail for Harris. San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, no relation to the accused woman, said she would oppose the request because ``she shouldn't be out on the streets.''

Harris is charged with special circumstances of multiple murder that make her eligible for the death penalty. But the district attorney said she has made no decision whether or not to seek the woman's execution for what she called ``a horrible tragedy.''

``I will review the facts of the case before making a determination,'' Harris said. ``State of mind is always going to be an issue in any case. It's potentially an issue in this case, but that's to be determined.''

Kamala Harris said her office hasn't determined yet whether to seek the death penalty, which is possible because of special circumstances alleged for multiple murders. On several occasions District Attorney Harris has said she doesn't believe in the death penalty. She said ``I will review the facts of the case before making a determination.''

Family members said Lashuan Harris has been battling mental illness for the past two years and was being treated for schizophrenia. One sister said Harris had told her mother early Wednesday that she was ``going to feed the kids to the sharks.'' Family members said they considered Harris a doting mother but tried in recent months to get public welfare agencies to intervene for the children' sake.

An Alameda County social services spokeswoman said Harris, who had been living with her children at an Oakland homeless family shelter after moving out of her mother's house, had been receiving welfare assistance, but that the children were not in protective custody. Spokeswoman Sylvia Soublet said that the agency had made no determination that Harris was a suitable custodial parent. The fact that the children were not in protective custody indicated authorities saw no need to intervene.

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Reply #1 posted 10/21/05 5:44pm

Zelaira	Horriable Story. I wish sick people would get appropriate help and stay away from CHILDREN. I get disgusted when I hear about crimes against Children.
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Reply #2 posted 10/21/05 5:49pm

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Zelaira said:

Horriable Story. I wish sick people would get appropriate help and stay away from CHILDREN. I get disgusted when I hear about crimes against Children.

As angry/sad as I am, I feel bad for both the woman and the children - she's sick and should not have had those kids in her custody. I'm not clearing her of wrongdoing, but this just shows how mental illness can hurt both the individuals and the people around them.... sad