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http://www.kron.com/Global/story.asp?S=4008735
(SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The mother seen dropping her young children into San Francisco Bay pleaded not guilty Friday to three counts of murder.
23-year-old Lashaun T. Harris of Oakland, wearing a red jail sweatshirt and pants, kept her head down and held her public defender's hand through most of the brief court hearing.
She quietly answered "yes" when the San Francisco Superior Court judge asked if she was willing to waive her right to a speedy preliminary hearing.
Earlier this week, she was booked on three counts of murder and three counts of assault on a child with great bodily injury after authorities say she threw her children off a pier, drowning them in San Francisco Bay.
Harris also faces murder charges with special circumstances, making her eligible for the death penalty.
Her lawyer, Teresa Caffese, refused to address questions about Harris' mental state, saying only her client was under suicide watch. She's being held without bail.
"It's very, very difficult," Caffese said. "This can't be captured in words right now."
Police say Harris left an Oakland Salvation Army shelter where she had been staying with her kids, rode BART to the Embarcadero station, and then walked to Pier 7, where she allegedly threw her kids 10 feet off a pier into the water.
At least one body was recovered late Wednesday night.
The body of three-year-old Travante Greely was recovered near the Golden Gate Yacht Club. The search for two others -- six-year-old Trayshaun Harris and 16-month-old Joshua Harris -- continues in the waters near Pier 7.
The search was triggered by a 9-1-1 call placed by a concerned witness who was at Pier 7 around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and saw a woman undressing her three young children and then throwing them off the pier into the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay.
Police confirm Harris told them that she stripped her children naked and threw them into the bay after mysterious voices told her to do it. When they arrived, they found her standing near the rail as if waiting to be arrested.
A 16-year-old girl who identified herself as a half-sister said Harris, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia earlier this year, had threatened to hurt her children.
"She told my mama she was going to feed them to the sharks," Britney Fitzpatrick said. "No one thought it was that serious."
Harris has no prior criminal record in San Francisco. )