Photo courtesy of Caddo Correctional Center
A judge ordered a mental health evaluation for Ureka Black, who is accused of throwing her two sons from a Louisiana bridge.
District Judge Donald Hathaway Jr. appointed a two-person sanity commission to evaluate Black, 32, after a request from Elizabeth Gibson, Black’s state-appointed attorney, reported KTBS. Gibson claims Black is not mentally competent enough to appear in court and could not tell right from wrong during the incident.
Black is accused of throwing her two sons off the Cross Lake Bridge in Shreveport on September 24, according to WNCT. Her sons, 10-month-old Joshua and 5-year-old Elijah, were found in Cross Lake. The infant didn’t survive, but Elijah will be fine. Police were initially searching for a third child at the scene, but they were later found safe in a different location. Elijah was treated for a facial injury and placed in state custody.
During an interview with authorities, Elijah provided information that led them to his mother. Black was charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. A bond was not set.
Black’s sisters told KSLA they suspected she was mentally ill, but she was unwilling to seek treatment. Her sisters said she was burned “from head to toe” when she was little and never got any help for the trauma.
“Every time we tried to get her help, she refused,” Felicia Black recalled. “She just felt like nothing was wrong with her.”
“People are just painting this picture of her being a terrible person, like she’s just a monster like she just intentionally tried to do this,” Pycolyia Black, her other sister, said. “That’s not the case. The most important thing that I want to point out is mental illness.”
A few weeks before the incident, the family sought custody of Ureka Black’s kids due to their concerns.
“We just knew something wasn’t all the way right with her, but I didn’t want to hurt her in that way of taking her kids. We feeling guilty that we should’ve,” Felicia Black explained.
The family plans to seek help for the surviving child.