Case against Tennessee mother headed to grand jury
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – A Tennessee mother accused of stabbing to death her four young children has waived her preliminary hearing, meaning the case against her can be presented to a grand jury.
Twenty-nine year old Shanynthia (Shuh-NIN-thee-uh) Gardner went before Judge Bill Anderson Jr. on Wednesday in Memphis. She signed the hearing waiver, and Anderson accepted it.
A grand jury will decide whether to indict Gardner. She was arrested after her three daughters and one son, all younger than 5, were found dead in her suburban Memphis apartment July 1. Court documents say her 7-year-old son escaped the attack and told someone his mother was stabbing his sister.
Craig Morton, Gardner’s lawyer, has said she isn’t a violent person and he believes she has a mental disability. She is undergoing a court-ordered mental evaluation.
