Free Republic

Grandmother asked social service agency for partial custody. Relatives of a mentally troubled woman from Oakland who reported hearing voices before she allegedly threw her three young sons into the bay to die said Thursday they had tried unsuccessfully to persuade Alameda County social service workers to help them gain custody of the children. Members of the family of La-shuan Ternice Harris said they had argued that the 23-year-old woman was unstable and unfit to care for her boys -- 6-year-old Trayshaun Harris, 2-year-old Taronta Greely Jr. and 16-month-old Joshua Greely. They had given up trying by Wednesday, when Harris...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The woman seen dropping her young sons into San Francisco Bay pleaded innocent Friday to three counts of murder. Lashuan Harris, described as mentally ill by family members, kept her head down and held her public defender's hand through most of the brief court hearing. She quietly answered "yes" when the San Francisco Superior Court judge asked if she was willing to waive her right to a speedy preliminary hearing. Harris, 23, faces three counts of murder with the "special circumstance" of multiple murder. A claim of special circumstances means a murder defendant could be eligible...