Lashuan Harris, 23, who had been living with the children at an Oakland homeless shelter, was a doting mother, according to her 16-year-old sister, Britney Fitzpatrick. So when Harris made that chilling statement to her mother, Britney said the family did not take it seriously.
San Francisco police responded in minutes to a witness's call and arrested Harris as she walked back from the end of the 500-foot-long pier off the Embarcadero near the historic Ferry Building pushing an empty baby stroller. She complained of hearing voices.
Thursday, Harris' mother, Avis Harris of Oakland, arrived with other family members at the pier, where they gathered to pray while rescuers continued searching for two of the children's bodies. She would not speak to reporters.
A man who was with his own children at the pier on Wednesday was the one who called 911 at 5:27 p.m. from a nearby restaurant to report that a woman was throwing children into the bay. Police would not identify him or indicate whether he tried to help, and were seeking other witnesses.
Harris was charged with three counts of murder and three counts of assaulting a child. She was not available for comment, said Susan Fahey, spokeswoman for the San Francisco sheriff. A defense lawyer visited Harris, but she had not been appointed counsel.
Around 10 p.m. Wednesday -- the same time Harris was booked -- a U.S. Coast Guard search team spotted the body of one of her children, 2-year-old Taronta ``T.J.'' Greely Jr., washed up on a beach near the St. Francis Yacht Club, about two miles northwest of the pier.
Some 200 law enforcement, Coast Guard and other rescue personnel combed the 55-degree waters Thursday looking for the bodies of the other two children -- Treyshun Harris, 6, and Joshoa Greely, 16 months. The father of all three boys was identified as Taronta Greely, 29. He was unavailable Thursday, but his mother said they both were devastated by the news.
Harris' relatives said she attended Fremont and Castlemont high schools in Oakland but never graduated. She had her oldest son when she was 17, earned a nursing assistant credential at an Oakland adult school and worked on-and-off at local hospitals and clinics before being diagnosed with mental illness.
Harris and Greely never married and were estranged. In October 2003, according to Alameda County court records, Harris received a three-year protective order prohibiting Taronta Greely from contacting her or coming within 100-feet of her or the children unless it was to visit Treyshun and Taronta Jr. The couple's third son, Joshoa was born in 2004.
The court order allowed Greely to see the children every other Saturday. It was to remain in effect until October 2006.
The Harris relatives dispute that, and said they never tried to keep Greely from his boys.
Family members said Harris began acting strangely while she was pregnant with her third child, Joshoa, 16 months old. Sometimes, they recalled, Harris would burst out laughing for no reason, but she never threatened or hurt her children.
She was diagnosed with schizophrenia, her family said, and her mental health deteriorated early this year leading her to be admitted to John George Psychiatric Pavilion in Alameda County for treatment. A spokeswoman for the facility said she was prohibited by law from confirming any treatment.
After Harris left the treatment center, she went to live with her mother, who had been taking care of her children during that time. A few months later, she left to spend time in Jacksonville, Fla., with a sister, but ended up hospitalized there. Avis Harris went to Florida and retrieved the family.
Family members said Lashuan turned down offers for help and when tensions escalated with her mother, she soon moved to a Salvation Army shelter for homeless families. Relatives pleaded with her to take her medicine, but she often stopped and was not believed to be taking it this week.
``She had a mind of her own,'' said Telicia Harris. Lashuan's older sister. Although Avis sought custody, fearing for her grandchildren, she never got it. When the family asked why she wanted to live in a shelter, ``She said God told her to go there,'' said Telicia Harris.
Alameda County Social Services Agency spokeswoman Sylvia Soublet said Lashuan Harris had been receiving financial assistance but that her children were not in protective custody.
Of her six siblings, Lashuan Harris was the most religious, and dressed up her three sons to go to her Oakland church this past Sunday, family members said.
Her family worried about her ability to care for her sons, but never believed she would hurt them.
``She always clothed them, fed them and never whipped them,'' said Freddy Harris, a cousin of Lashuan who often brought the two older boys to get their hair cut.
Family members believe Lashuan took public transportation to San Francisco where the tragedy unraveled on Wednesday.
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