Mom who tossed kids is identified

Family members said the mother has mental illness.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Authorities identified Thursday the mother accused of throwing her three young sons into San Francisco Bay as an Oakland, Calif., woman who was living in a local homeless shelter, and recovered one of the children's bodies while the search for the others continued.
A girl claiming to be the woman's sister told reporters at Pier 7, where the children were tossed into the bay Wednesday afternoon, that their mother suffered from mental illness and family members so feared for the children's safety they were trying to gain custody of them.
San Francisco police said LaShaun Harris, 23, was booked on three counts of murder and three counts of assaulting a child with intent to cause great bodily harm. Based on an eyewitness account, police believe Harris marched her children to the end of the 500-foot-long Pier 7 around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and threw them into the chilly water.
Body spotted
Around 10 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard spotted the body of one of the children, identified as 2-year-old Taronta "T.J." Greely, washed up on a beach near the St. Francis Yacht Club, about two miles north of the pier.
Some 200 law enforcement, Coast Guard and public safety personnel continued to comb the waters Thursday morning, and sent divers into the depths looking for the other two children, identified as Treyshun Harris, 6, and Joshoa Greely, 16 months.
Britney Fitzpatrick, 16, of Oakland, who identified herself as LaShaun Harris' half-sister, said the children's mother suffered from schizophrenia, refused to take her medicine, and had said Wednesday she planned to throw the boys into the bay, but they didn't believe her.
"She's been going crazy for a while," Fitzpatrick said. "She told my mama she was going to feed the kids to the sharks yesterday morning. We didn't believe her."
Children's father
The father of all three children was identified as Taronta Greely, the same name as the boy whose body was recovered. It was unclear why some of the children had different last names.
Around 11 a.m., about a dozen people who also identified themselves as Harris' relatives arrived at the pier in a white Chevy van, and gathered to say a prayer.
"Let's all hold hands and say a prayer right now," one of them said as they stood with shocked looks and tears in their eyes.
Another, who said she also was Harris' sister but would not give her name, corroborated much of what Fitzpatrick had said. Fitzpatrick said Harris was among seven children whose mother is Avis Harris of Oakland. Fitzpatrick said she is the youngest.
It was unclear whether Avis Harris was among those who showed up at the pier Thursday.
According to Fitzpatrick, Harris had been living at the Salvation Army shelter for a couple of months because she could not get along with her mother. She said their mother was trying to gain custody of the children out of concern that Harris could not care for them.