SAN FRANCISCO – The Oakland mother who threw her three boys in chilly San Francisco Bay will stand trial on three counts of murder that could bring the death penalty, a judge ruled Thursday.
Lashuan Harris, 23, told police and a psychiatrist after the Oct. 19 drownings that God told her to sacrifice her children, according to testimony at her three-day preliminary hearing in San Francisco Superior Court.
Judge Teri Jackson determined there was enough evidence for Harris to stand trial in the deaths of Treyshun Harris, 6, Taronta Greeley Jr., 2, and Joshoa Greeley, 16 months.
Harris has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder. Under a special circumstance alleging multiple deaths she could face execution, but prosecutors have not said if they will seek the death penalty.
Her lawyer claims Harris is a paranoid schizophrenic who was acting under the belief that God wanted her to kill.
In her videotaped confession to police, Harris described how she struggled with two of her boys as she stripped them and plunged them from Pier 7 in an area where tourists stroll along the waterfront. Her youngest boy laughed, thinking it was a game.
One of the bodies was recovered, but the others were never found.
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