SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A woman who tossed her three young children off a pier into San Francisco Bay near Fishermen's Wharf has been arrested, authorities said Thursday, and the Coast Guard searched for the bodies of two of the children.
The body of a third child was recovered Wednesday.
Lashaun Harris, 23, of Oakland, was booked on three counts of murder and three counts of assault on a child with great bodily injury, according to Susan Fahey, spokeswoman for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department. Harris remained in custody early Thursday with no court date set, she said. Harris' children were identified as Trayshaun Harris, 6, Travante Greely, 2, and Joshua Harris, 1.
A child's body was found about four hours after a witness reported seeing a woman drop the children into the bay near Pier 7, said Jonathan Guerra of the Coast Guard. The body was not immediately identified.
While rescuers searched for the children Wednesday night, an empty stroller was visible on the pier. A small inflatable Coast Guard boat hugged the water front as rescuers used hand-held flashlights to search under the pier. Larger Coast Guard and San Francisco police boats searched the water with high-powered flashlights.
Mayor Gavin Newsom came to the scene to get briefed by authorities, telling reporters, ``I'm sick to my stomach,'' before leaving.
Lashaun Harris told authorities that voices had told her to throw her children into the water, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. It was not immediately known whether she had an attorney.
Asia Powell, who identified herself as Harris' cousin, said Harris was taking medication for a mental illness.
``I know that she would never hurt her kids,'' she told KPIX-TV. ``I know that.''
Harris had been staying with her children at a Salvation Army shelter in Oakland, the Chronicle reported.
``I just talked to her yesterday,'' Mary Ann Ramirez, the shelter's social services manager, told the newspaper Wednesday. ``We had our usual, 'How are you doing, how's the kids.' I would never have guessed in a million years that today she would do that.''
The pier is in the Embarcadero area, which draws tourists to the historic Ferry Building within view of Coit Tower and the landmark Transamerica pyramid. It's about a mile from Fishermen's Wharf.
my first thought when I heard this this morning is, why the hell do "the voices" always tell people to hurt & kill others? don't the voices ever have anything good to say?
this story is almost not news, it seems to be happening so often.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:58 pm Posts: 3567 Location: west side of washington state
TomJoad187 wrote:
Makes you wonder if she had a voice that she called her own yelling back at the other voices, "I don't want to do this!"
exactly.
hopefully someone with some psychiatric training (anaranae?) could clarify this a bit. because I can't help being suspicious of the "reason" this woman could drown her 3 children.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
When you know your sister is a schizophrenic, and she tells you that the voices in her head are telling her to throw her kids into the bay ...
... GET YOUR MOTHER FUCKING ASS TO THE BAY!!!!
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2005 12:10 am Posts: 662 Location: Arvada, CO Gender: Male
B wrote:
When you know your sister is a schizophrenic, and she tells you that the voices in her head are telling her to throw her kids into the bay ...
... GET YOUR MOTHER FUCKING ASS TO THE BAY!!!!
Are you kidding? Do you know how windy it gets there???
I would say, if you know your sister is schizophrenic, try to find someone to watch her kids while she reasons with the voices in her head. Make them all get jobs or something...anyway, if she is beyond treatment, it may be your civic duty to raise them childrens--not everyone is fit to be a parent...look at Ozzy!
_________________ ...and then they made me their chief.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:38 am Posts: 5575 Location: Sydney, NSW
TomJoad187 wrote:
MF wrote:
These things are always beyond comprehension, but why do people always claim it was voices telling them to do it?
Because they probably aren't as likely to respond if they get something in the mail telling them to do it.
Because that's what schizophrenia does. It makes you hear voices.
I wish people would quit trying to make any claim of "voices" seem like an excuse. No one in their right frame of mind would drown kids. These people aren't lying when they say they have mental health issues. Too often, people with these problems go undiagnosed for much too long, if not ever.
This is reality, not the Practice.
_________________
Jammer91 wrote:
If Soundgarden is perfectly fine with playing together with Tad Doyle on vocals, why the fuck is he wasting his life promoting the single worst album of all time? Holy shit, he has to be the stupidest motherfucker on earth.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
shades-go-down wrote:
TomJoad187 wrote:
MF wrote:
These things are always beyond comprehension, but why do people always claim it was voices telling them to do it?
Because they probably aren't as likely to respond if they get something in the mail telling them to do it.
Because that's what schizophrenia does. It makes you hear voices.
I wish people would quit trying to make any claim of "voices" seem like an excuse. No one in their right frame of mind would drown kids. These people aren't lying when they say they have mental health issues. Too often, people with these problems go undiagnosed for much too long, if not ever.
This is reality, not the Practice.
This particular woman was diagnosed. The article says she was taking meds. She probably went off her meds. I'm sure anti-psychotics have a ton of side effects that make people hate taking them. Without massive support I bet most diagnosed schizophreniacs go off their meds.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 2:16 am Posts: 1213 Location: Greenwich CT
I dont buy the "voices" defense at all. I think she was just sick of having kids at such a young age, so off she goes to the water. If she really does have mental problems, then why the fuck was she having children to begin with.
_________________ ~ Me fail English? That's unpossible. ~
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:38 am Posts: 5575 Location: Sydney, NSW
suchpj wrote:
I dont buy the "voices" defense at all. I think she was just sick of having kids at such a young age, so off she goes to the water. If she really does have mental problems, then why the fuck was she having children to begin with.
Ovaries and sex drive don't stop working with mental illness.
_________________
Jammer91 wrote:
If Soundgarden is perfectly fine with playing together with Tad Doyle on vocals, why the fuck is he wasting his life promoting the single worst album of all time? Holy shit, he has to be the stupidest motherfucker on earth.
I dont buy the "voices" defense at all. I think she was just sick of having kids at such a young age, so off she goes to the water. If she really does have mental problems, then why the fuck was she having children to begin with.
She was sick of having kids...so she threw them off a bridge?
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 2:16 am Posts: 1213 Location: Greenwich CT
bart d. wrote:
suchpj wrote:
I dont buy the "voices" defense at all. I think she was just sick of having kids at such a young age, so off she goes to the water. If she really does have mental problems, then why the fuck was she having children to begin with.
She was sick of having kids...so she threw them off a bridge?
Yeah, seems just as logical as her hearing voices. Scott Peterson was sick of having a wife, and didnt want a family so he killed his wife and dumped her in the bay.
_________________ ~ Me fail English? That's unpossible. ~
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2005 12:10 am Posts: 662 Location: Arvada, CO Gender: Male
suchpj wrote:
bart d. wrote:
suchpj wrote:
I dont buy the "voices" defense at all. I think she was just sick of having kids at such a young age, so off she goes to the water. If she really does have mental problems, then why the fuck was she having children to begin with.
She was sick of having kids...so she threw them off a bridge?
Yeah, seems just as logical as her hearing voices. Scott Peterson was sick of having a wife, and didnt want a family so he killed his wife and dumped her in the bay.
Ever known any diagnosed schizophrenics? When I worked in an after school program there was a kid who was constantly drugged to the point of drooling. He would just sit and stare every day until his mother came and got him. He wasn't catatonic or anything--it just seemed that his mind was completely sedated.
A friend of mine's mother also hears voices. She's supposed to ignore them--she's on medication to help her do this. She doesn't like the effects of the medications, so she frequently neglects to take them. When I would stop by this house, it was clear that this lady had some kind of issue with the way her mind worked. Personally I believe that people hear voices, and that there are a lot of reasons that people might kill somebody. I don't know shit about mental illness, but I've seen and dealt with it. To say that everyone who kills has the same motive as Scott Peterson is over-simplifying the problem a little bit.
_________________ ...and then they made me their chief.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
suchpj wrote:
bart d. wrote:
suchpj wrote:
I dont buy the "voices" defense at all. I think she was just sick of having kids at such a young age, so off she goes to the water. If she really does have mental problems, then why the fuck was she having children to begin with.
She was sick of having kids...so she threw them off a bridge?
Yeah, seems just as logical as her hearing voices. Scott Peterson was sick of having a wife, and didnt want a family so he killed his wife and dumped her in the bay.
Y'know, we are talking about a diagnosed schizophrenic, not someone who was just living the high life a week ago.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
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