DA, Defense Say Plea In Works In Bathtub Drowning Of Two Sons

PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) - A prosecutor and defense attorney say they're negotiating a plea agreement for a mentally ill western Pennsylvania woman awaiting trial on charges she drowned her two young sons in their bathtub.

Allegheny County prosecutors and Laurel Schlemmer's defense attorney are under a gag order, so they can't speak publicly about the deal.

But they disclosed it to a judge at a status conference Monday.

Schlemmer's attorney did say at the hearing that they are prepared to go to trial, if negotiations for a plea are unsuccessful.

The 42-year-old McCandless woman allegedly told police she heard "crazy voices" before holding her 6-year-old son, Daniel, and his 3-year-old brother, Luke, under water in April 2014. Luke died that day and Daniel a few days later.

A psychiatrist found Schlemmer mentally incompetent to stand trial before a judge in July determined she was competent after being treated at a state mental hospital.

The defense in the Schlemmer case hopes to have its own psychiatric evaluation of her mental condition by the middle of next month.

The judge set another status conference for Dec. 15.

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