Mother charged in daughters’ deaths to undergo evaluation
A Las Vegas woman charged with killing her two young daughters is expected to undergo a mental health evaluation.
Authorities have said that Amanda Sharp-Jefferson, 26, told the father of her children that the babies’ organs would be “worth a lot of money.”
During a court hearing Wednesday, Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett-Haron ordered a competency evaluation for the mother.
She was arrested earlier this month on two counts of open murder after her boyfriend, Jaykwon Singleton, said he came home to find her at the apartment with their daughters, Rose, 1, and Lily, 2 months, stacked on top of each other in a baby swing, both dead, according to an arrest report.
Singleton told police that the couple had been together since 2018 and had not had any problems in their relationship until Sharp-Jefferson recently “started talking about the altar spirit world,” the report stated.
The father said he returned home at 1064 Sierra Vista Drive on Nov. 6 and realized the girls were unresponsive. He told police that Sharp-Jefferson “kept shushing him and at one point, made a statement that their organs were worth a lot of money,” according to the report.
Sharp-Jefferson told police that she believed she had been set up, that she did not have any children and she did not know Singleton.
The judge’s decision on Wednesday means two doctors would evaluate Sharp-Jefferson and present separate findings to another judge. Should she be found incompetent, Sharp-Jefferson would be sent to a maximum security psychiatric facility until doctors deem her fit to stand trial.
After Wednesday’s hearing, Bennett-Haron issued an order prohibiting the Las Vegas Review-Journal from publishing photos taken of Sharp-Jefferson in court before the judge took the bench.
The judge cited the Nevada Supreme Court rules on electronic coverage of court proceedings, finding in part that “camera coverage shall be limited only to ‘proceedings’ open to the public, and the photograph(s) in question here were unauthorized because they were taken prior to the commencement of ‘proceedings.’”
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
