MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A Tennessee woman has been indicted on murder and child abuse charges in the stabbing deaths of her four young children.
The Shelby County district attorney's office says 29-year-old Shanynthia (shah-NIN'-the-ah) Gardner was indicted Thursday. She is being held in jail without bond.
Sheriff's officials say Gardner cut her children's throats at her apartment in unincorporated Shelby County on July 1. Authorities found the bodies of three daughters and a son, all younger than 5.
Authorities say a fifth child, a boy who was 7 at the time, escaped and told a neighbor his mother was stabbing his sister.
Gardner's attorney, Craig Morton, has said Gardner is not a violent person and he believes she has a mental disability. He has not returned a call seeking comment on the indictment.
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