Mother who killed her 4 kids described as 'sweet'

A mother, 29 year old, Shanynthia "Yari" Gardner, who was charged in the stabbing deaths of four of her children made her first court appearance Tuesday, four days after the children were found dead in a Tennessee apartment.

Gardner allegedly stabbed 4 of her 5 children. 6-month-old Yahzi, was dead in a baby carrier in the living room, with her sister, 3-year-old Sya, next to her.
In a nearby bedroom, deputies found 2 year old Sahvi, dead and lying on a mattress and her 4-year-old brother, Tallen, on the floor next to her.

The fifth child, Gardner's eldest son, Dallen, escaped from the bloody scene, yelling that his mother had killed his sister.

Gardner is being held on four counts of first-degree murder with aggravated child abuse, four counts of first-degree murder in association with aggravated child neglect, plus four more counts each of aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect or endangerment. Deputies were called to an apartment in southeast Shelby County, Tenn., on Friday.

According to charging documents, the nature of the call was "a wounding call where four juveniles were found deceased upon Deputies's arrival."

On Monday, a friend of Gardner. Sarah Eddington described Gardner as a nice person who was happy with her life when they worked together in 2010. Eddington recalled Gardner talking about how bad of a father her dad was, and vowed to maintain a good relationship with the father of her children. "Yari was a sweet individual who loved her family," said Eddington. "I'm just not sure where things went wrong." Eddington said Gardner's youngest child, 6-month-old Yahzi, came as a surprise. Gardner did not mention her pregnancy until after she gave birth. While working together, Eddington said Gardner got into an argument with a supervisor at Menlo Logistics and quit shortly after. "She obviously was dealing with something and people just turned a blind eye," Eddington said.

Gardner faces an array of charges, including four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the children.