Source: KiddNation / Kidd Nation
A Tennessee mother has been convicted of killing her four young children.
On Feb. 8, Shanynthia Gardner was sentenced to life in prison for slitting the throats of her four young children: 4-year-old Tallen; 3-year-old Sya; 2-year-old Sahvi; and 6-month old Yahzi. According to Memphis news station ABC 24, the disgraced mother will be granted the possibility of parole in 51 years.
The tragic incident occurred on July 1, 2016, at the family’s apartment near Hacks Cross and Shelby Drive in Memphis. Prosecutors said Gardner stabbed the young children and left their lifeless bodies scattered throughout the home. Upon arriving at the crime scene, authorities reportedly found two children “in a bedroom and two were in the living room – the youngest found in her car seat,” ABC 24 noted. Gardner’s eldest child, 7, managed to escape and ran to a neighbor for help. He was held in protective custody after the tragic incident.
During Tuesday’s verdict, Gardner was slammed with four counts of first-degree murder in association with aggravated child abuse, four counts of first-degree murder in association with aggravated child neglect, and four counts each of aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect or endangerment, PEOPLE noted.
Court records from the Shelby County DA office show that the judge tossed out Gardner’s plea of insanity, although the court official did agree that she had a mental illness. Records also show that Gardner admitted to the stabbings on the day of the incident while speaking to her husband Martin Gardner, FOX 13 Memphis reported.
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