Pa. mom accused of drowning kids found mentally incompetent

PITTSBURGH - A jail psychiatrist says a Pennsylvania woman accused of drowning her two sons in a bathtub is mentally incompetent to stand trial.

On Monday, Dr. Christine Martone found that 40-year-old Laurel Michelle Schlemmer should be treated at a state institution to determine if she can stand trial in the future.

Detectives say the woman told them she tried to drown her 3- and 6-year-old sons by sitting on them in the tub after a third son left for school last Tuesday, April 1. They say she told investigators she heard "crazy voices" telling her to push the boys underwater.

The 3-year-old boy died on Tuesday while older brother Daniel Schlemmer, 6, was in critical condition. He died four days later, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Saturday.

Judge Jeffrey Manning also issued a gag order in the case Monday at the request of Schlemmer's attorney. That means no one involved may comment on the competency finding.

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