Police have found a large butcher's knife with what appeared to be blood on it in an apartment where a Tennessee mother killed her four children by cutting their throats, court documents say.
Shanynthia Gardner, 29, of Memphis, has been charged with four counts of first degree murder while committing aggravated child neglect in the deaths of her three daughters and one son - all under the age of five.
Their bodies were found after police entered her apartment in a gated community in unincorporated Shelby County on Friday. Neighbours and friends of the family attended a vigil to honour the victims on Saturday.
Gardner also faces four counts of first degree murder while committing aggravated child abuse; four counts of aggravated child neglect or endangerment; and four counts of aggravated child abuse. She is being held without bond, with an appearance scheduled for Tuesday.
An affidavit filed in Shelby County court by a sheriff's detective identified the victims as four-year-old Tallen Gardner; three-year-old Sya Gardner; two-year-old Sahvi Gardner; and six-month old Yahzi Gardner. A fifth child, seven-year-old Dallen Clayton, fled the apartment and escaped the attack, the affidavit said. Dallen is Gardner's son from a previous marriage.
Gardner spoke by phone with her current husband, Martin Gardner, and acknowledged that she killed her children, the affidavit said. Attempts to reach him or relatives of the Gardners have been unsuccessful.
"This is a terrible act, an egregious act that has shocked, I believe, the community, and has shocked our staff to the core," Shelby County Sheriff Bill Oldham said Saturday.
Deputies were called to an apartment complex in unincorporated Shelby County on Friday afternoon. When they arrived at Shanynthia Gardner's apartment, they found her with superficial cuts to her neck and wrists, the affidavit said. Deputies also found four children with "severe lacerations to the throat," the document said.
Sonya Clayton, Dallen Clayton's grandmother, said she had not seen the boy's mother for a few years. She said she was shocked by the attack.
"She was a sweet young lady," Clayton said of Shanynthia Gardner. "What happened, I don't understand."
Later, Sonya Clayton said she forgives her former daughter-in-law.
"I know this is the work of the devil," Sonya Clayton said. "I know this is not Shanynthia. And I pray and I love Shanynthia."
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