Woman charged with capital murder in deaths of 2 girls, boy
Sunday, February 06, 2005
By STEVE DOYLE
Times Staff Writer,
steved@htimes.com
Three children found dead in a southwest Huntsville apartment with no electricity were intentionally starved to death by their mother, police say.
Huntsville police spokesman Wendell Johnson said Saturday that Natashay Y. Ward, 33, confessed to detectives Friday night and was charged with capital murder. If convicted, she could be sentenced to death by lethal injection or life in prison without parole.
Johnson said Ward's children - Shanieka, 11; Latrica, 9; and Christopher, 8 - appeared malnourished. Police won't know exactly when or how they died until autopsies are complete, he said.
All three children were students at Ridgecrest Elementary School, a short walk from their $399-a-month apartment off Patton Road. But they never returned to classes after Christmas break.
Shanieka was a precocious fifth-grader who would have moved on to middle school next fall.
Latrica was on the honor roll and made friends easily.
Christopher got invited to a picnic for low-income kids at Brahan Spring Park last summer but decided to stay home with his mom instead.
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Prayers for justice, Lanie