An attorney has been hired to represent a Tennessee woman charged with fatally stabbing four of her children but declined to discuss the case.
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Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Nichols, left, leads reporters away for a short press conference as family members of Shanynthia Gardner wait for the defense attorney after her video hearing in Judge Loyce Lambert Ryan’s court Tuesday, July 5, 2016, in Memphis.
Shanynthia “Yari” Gardner, 29, faces an array of charges, including four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the children – all under 6 years old.
Gardner’s next hearing is set for next Monday, according to the AP.
“I’ve just been praying for the whole situation”, James Johnson said.
Shortly after police arrived at the Gardner home her husband, Martin Gardner, the father of the slain children was able to speak with Shanynthia; she admitted to killing their children.
Shanynthia Gardner, 29, will appear in court via a video monitor.
Authorities have not said why they think Gardner killed her children while investigators have been looking into whether she has mental health problems.
There were five children at the apartment at the time of the stabbings.
Johnson said he went to high school with Gardner. Court documents say she acknowledged killing them in a phone conversation to their father.
On Wednesday support from family and friends is pouring in as costs surrounding the children’s deaths rose.
“I know this is not Shanynthia, and I pray (for) and love Shanynthia wholeheartedly still”. “What happened? I don’t understand”, Sonya Clayton, the surviving son’s grandmother, said. Department of Children Services have never been called for the family before. “I know Shanynthia – this is the work of the devil”.
Friends are rallying to help the family of four Memphis children all under the age six, who were tragically murdered last week.
One GofundMe page has raised more than $9,000.
“I want Dallen, I need Dallen”, Clayton told WHBQ.
“They have a long way to go”, said Hubbard.
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“We are deeply saddened to learn of this terrible news, and our hearts are broken for everyone touched by this tragedy”, said Rick Shadyac, ALSAC president and CEO.
