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A Louisiana mother accused of throwing her two children off the Cross Lake bridge has been indicted.
33-year-old, Ureka R. Black was charged with multiple felonies for allegedly tossing her two young children off the top of a Louisiana bridge and watching as they plummeted into the lake below. A few weeks before the incident, the family sought custody of Ureka Black’s kids due to their concerns.
The Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office released a statement pertaining to the indictment.
“Ureka Rochelle Black, 33, of Shreveport, was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the slaying of one of her children, and the attempted second-degree murder of another of her children September 24, 2021. Joshua Calif Black, 10 months old, died when he was thrown into Cross Lake. Another child whose name has not been released due to age, 5 years old, survived.”
A conviction on the charge of second-degree murder would result in Black being handed a mandatory sentence of life in prison. A conviction on the attempted murder charge carries a sentence of 10 to 50 years behind bars without the possibility of parole.
Black’s prosecution has been on hold pending the results of mental evaluations performed by a psychiatrist and a psychologist who is tasked with determining whether she is competent to stand trial, Shreveport ABC affiliate KTBS-TV reported.
Caddo District Attorney James Stewart said, “The staying of the proceedings as to her sanity does not prevent the grand jury from going forward.”
Black has been in jail since her arrest. Authorities learned about the incident from the surviving older son, who now lives with his father. Black was arrested after her van was located at a rest stop in Waskom, Texas.
Black’s attorney, public defender Elizabeth Gibson has not commented on the indictment.