Mother throws her 3 kids into the SF bay

[Honeykiss1974]

Search resumes for kids in San Francisco Bay

One body found in water; newspaper reports mother's arrest

Thursday, October 20, 2005; Posted: 12:13 p.m. EDT (16:13 GMT)

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- Rescue boats and a helicopter set out at first light Thursday to search for the bodies of two children, whose mother allegedly threw them off a pier into San Francisco Bay.

One body was recovered late Wednesday, about five hours after police received a 911 call saying a woman had dropped as many as three children into the water.

The body was found two miles away from the pier. (Watch video of the search efforts -- 1:39)

Authorities said there was little chance that the children would be found alive in the chilly water.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday that witnesses saw 23-year-old Lashaun Harris of Oakland take off her children's clothes and drop them off the Scenic Pier 7.

Fire and rescue crews arrived about four minutes after the 911 call, but they did not see any sign of the children.

A stroller and a pile of clothes could be seen on the pier.

Read the rest here


Words can not even describe the anger I feel right now.

[mmcat]

what!!!!
i cannot ponder that.

[JenMarie]

It's all over the news here.

Sad sad story. It's just unheard of really...

[honeychile]

As infuriating as this may be, this woman seems more mentally disturbed than actually "evil". At least she's not like Susan Smith, who calculatingly drowned her children because her boyfriend didn't want to be bothered with them, then dared to say that some unknown black man carjacked her kids.

I have to admit, I have a lot of sorrow concerning this whole scenario. Somewhere, someone should have realized that Lashaun Harris needed serious mental help, and those babies might still be alive. The hell she's probably living in her mind can't be easy...

[Kevin]

Originally posted by honeychile
As infuriating as this may be, this woman seems more mentally disturbed than actually "evil". At least she's not like Susan Smith, who calculatingly drowned her children because her boyfriend didn't want to be bothered with them, then dared to say that some unknown black man carjacked her kids.

I have to admit, I have a lot of sorrow concerning this whole scenario. Somewhere, someone should have realized that Lashaun Harris needed serious mental help, and those babies might still be alive. The hell she's probably living in her mind can't be easy...

I would feel sorry for, but she killed her children, so nope.

Too bad she drove to Cali to do this. Back home, she'd be entitled to the needle.

[wrigley]

The rest of the follow up story

"An aunt told the San Francisco Chronicle that Harris' mother had tried to gain partial custody of the children after Harris stopped taking the medication and made threats toward the children.
'They said she was sane, that they couldn't do anything,' Joyce Harris told the newspaper. A spokesman for the Alameda County Social Services Agency would not discuss the custody issue, according to the Chronicle"
-The ball was dropped here.

"Mayor Gavin Newsom said the alleged actions make "you, frankly, sick to your stomach." He noted the city has resources for people who feel they can't care for their children, such as drop-off stations known as "safe havens."
- I don't know if the Mayor is aware for the fact that the woman was mentally ill and off of her meds. The resources that were in place didn't safeguard her or those kids.

For all the these witnesses that saw this go down. Why didn't anyone go up to her and intervene? Why isn't the birth father mentioned? She didn't get pregnant by herself.

Those poor kids.

[HBADPi]

CA is just full of sickening stories lately, here's the one I read last week...this one made me so angry!

USC Student Was Focus of '04 Baby Investigation
By Richard Winton, Hector Becerra and Rebecca Trounson, Times Staff Writers


A 21-year-old USC student charged with her baby's abandonment and death this week also was investigated last year after she arrived at a hospital in downtown Los Angeles appearing to have just given birth but without a baby, according to law enforcement sources close to the case.

In that April 2004 investigation, Holly Ashcraft eventually told authorities that the child had been stillborn and that she had disposed of its body on her own, the sources said. Police were informed of the situation after Ashcraft arrived, hemorrhaging, at Good Samaritan Hospital. Doctors quickly determined that she had recently given birth, although the sources said Ashcraft was reluctant to acknowledge that at first.

The sources and Ashcraft's attorney emphasized that she was never arrested or charged in connection with the incident in 2004.

Paul J. Wallin, a Tustin attorney hired to defend Ashcraft in the current case, said Friday that his law firm also represented her in last year's investigation. "There was a stillborn birth," he said of that 2004 case. "Regarding that incident, not only was our client not prosecuted for any crime, she wasn't even arrested for any crime…. And no crime was committed."

Wallin said he could not elaborate on either incident but urged the public to hold off on forming opinions about his client.

"Everyone needs to slow down and wait for the facts to come out," he said.

Investigators said they never found a baby's body in the 2004 case, so they could not determine if Ashcraft was telling the truth. The sources said the Los Angeles Police Department did not do an extensive search because detectives believed that too much time had passed and that it would not be possible to determine whether a crime had been committed.

Lt. Dennis Shirey of the LAPD's juvenile unit, which is handling the investigation, said he could not comment on previous events.

In the current case, Ashcraft, of Billings, Mont., was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder and child abuse in connection with the alleged abandonment of her newborn son in a trash bin near her apartment north of the USC campus. Police said the child was born alive but placed inside a cardboard box and deposited into the container. A homeless man picking through the trash discovered the child and called police.

Ashcraft, a third-year architecture student at USC, remained Friday at the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles. Her attorneys described her $2-million bail as "outrageous" and said they planned to file a motion for it to be reduced.

"That bail amount is normally reserved for mass murderers and serial rapists, not for a 21-year-old college student with no prior record," Wallin said. "No matter what the circumstances are, this girl is not a risk to society."

Wallin also took issue Friday with the law enforcement account of the current case, saying there was no evidence thus far that the child had been born alive or stillborn. He said that the tests to establish that had yet to be completed.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner's office said Friday that the cause of death had not yet been determined. Autopsies can take up to six weeks.

The law enforcement sources said that Ashcraft will probably face a second-degree — not first-degree — murder case so that prosecutors don't have to deal with the issue of intent on her part.

Wallin would not comment Friday on his client's state of mind but said her mother and other relatives had flown in from around the country to support her and meet with her attorneys. No one in the family would comment on the case, he said.

"This is a time she should definitely be anywhere other than Los Angeles County Jail," Wallin said. "She should be with her family and people who can counsel her."

Friends and the real estate broker who rented Ashcraft the one-room apartment where she had lived since August described her as a sweet, personable young woman. Several, including those who had seen her in recent weeks, said she did not appear to be pregnant.

"She seemed fine, just kind of normal," said Uchechukwu Anene, a USC junior who said she had seen Ashcraft last week.

Wallin said Ashcraft was on a full-tuition scholarship at USC, although he said he did not know whether that was based on financial need, merit or both. A USC spokesman, James Grant, said he could not comment on Ashcraft's financial-aid status but said a scholarship that paid tuition and fees would be worth about $32,000 for the current academic year. Ashcraft, however, was suspended from school this week, pending the outcome of her case, Grant said.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, said the only reason the prosecutors asked for — and received — a doubling of Ashcraft's original $1-million bail was because Ashcraft is a Montana native and considered a flight risk, with few ties to Southern California.

Other criminal-defense attorneys agreed with Wallin that Ashcraft's bail was excessive and said it was probably a result of the case's high profile.

Charles L. Lindner, past president of the Los Angeles Criminal Bar Assn., said the $2-million bail was clearly "set up to keep her in jail."

"There's no evidence this woman is going to go anywhere," Lindner said. "The worst-case scenario is she returns home to Montana. She's an American citizen. Where … do they think she's going to go?"


So not only did she do it once, but TWICE!!

[PsychTau2]

Originally posted by HBADPi
CA is just full of sickening stories lately, here's the one I read last week...this one made me so angry!

USC Student Was Focus of '04 Baby Investigation
By Richard Winton, Hector Becerra and Rebecca Trounson, Times Staff Writers


A 21-year-old USC student charged with her baby's abandonment and death this week also was investigated last year after she arrived at a hospital in downtown Los Angeles appearing to have just given birth but without a baby, according to law enforcement sources close to the case.

TIE THOSE TUBES!!!!

PsychTau

[LightBulb]

How horrible... I know friends and family who have had difficult pregnancies, another family who waited years to adopt a child, and good parents who have struggled for custody... I can't fathom how a parent - or anyone else - could do this to children.

Those poor little babies.

[HBADPi]

My favorite part of the article about the USC girl is this

Wallin said he could not elaborate on either incident but urged the public to hold off on forming opinions about his client.

Are you kidding me?

Sorry but she dug her own grave and I have no pity for her especially considering this isnt the first time she pulled a stunt like this. Absolutely amazing...

[kansas13]

Originally posted by wrigley
For all the these witnesses that saw this go down. Why didn't anyone go up to her and intervene?

Thats the first thing I asked my husband when he told me about the story. I wondered how they caught her and he said someone saw her do it...Then why didn't they STOP her or even try to save the children?!?

[honeychile]

Originally posted by kansas13
Thats the first thing I asked my husband when he told me about the story. I wondered how they caught her and he said someone saw her do it...Then why didn't they STOP her or even try to save the children?!?

I sincerely think this woman (LaShaun Harris) was seriously mentally disturbed, which is why I don't understand why the many people around her didn't intervene. If a woman is having severe mental problems, the first thing that needs to be done is to secure the safety of any children she may have!

As for the other woman - yet another ball dropped, but this woman seems much more calculating. She can go to the hospital to get help for herself, but not her children? I agree - tie those tubes!!

Originally posted by LightBulb
How horrible... I know friends and family who have had difficult pregnancies, another family who waited years to adopt a child, and good parents who have struggled for custody... I can't fathom how a parent - or anyone else - could do this to children.

Those poor little babies.

AMEN!

I am not going to get all prechy but i swear i unfortunately cannot have children anymore..... i was blessed with the one i have my beautiful little 5 yr old son...... i would love to achingly yearn to have more children and i read and hear about these stories and makes my heart sad. throwing them into the SF bay, driving them into a lake, drowing them in a bath tub.....i agree with entitling them to the needle......breaks my heart those poor babies

[Tippiechick]

If she's mentally ill, I hope she gets the help she needs and that God has mercy on her soul. She'll need it.

If she had even the slightest bit of realization about what she was doing, I HOPE SHE BURNS IN HELL.