Shanynthia Gardner, charged with killing her four young children at her Shelby County apartment in 2016, will go to trial next summer, but whether it will be heard by a jury or the judge has not been decided.

Gardner appeared in court Thursday, Oct. 18, for a brief hearing where Criminal Court Judge James Lammey and her attorney, Craig Morton, set the trial date for Aug. 26, 2019.

Morton said a status hearing will be held Dec. 12 to decide on a bench trial or a jury trial.

“There’s pros and cons to each,” Morton said. “When you have a bench trial it’s going to be a faster process when the judge decides on pretty much all the issues rather than the jury. And a technical case like this, that might be a good thing.”

He added, “You’ve got lay witnesses on the jury that may not understand or see the entire picture on the expert proof in the case. And it may very well be in Ms. Gardner’s best interest to have a bench trial in the case, and that is something we will have to sit down and determine.”

Last year, experts determined that Gardner, 31, was suffering from a mental illness or defect when she killed her four children, all of whom were under the age of 5. Experts said she could consult with her attorney and understand what was going on in court, but that she was mentally ill at the time of the killings.

Gardner is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect in the death of her four children she is accused of fatally stabbing July 1, 2016.

When authorities arrived at Gardner’s southeast Shelby County apartment on Southern Hill Drive, they found her slain children. Yahzi, 22 weeks old, was found in her baby carrier in the living room along with Sya, 3, who was lying next to the carrier. In the bedroom, Sahvi, 2, and Tallen, 4, were found dead.

Gardner’s 7-year-old son escaped and ran out of the apartment yelling that his mother stabbed his sister.

Morton said the case “breaks everybody’s heart” and two years later everyone is still struggling.

“Everybody is crushed by it,” Morton said. “I think everybody understands what happened, and it is going to be our position that it was something that was not in her control and certainly wasn’t her intent. The family is struggling. It breaks everybody’s heart. That’s about how they are doing.”

He said he felt Shelby County Jail East was not equipped to handle Gardner’s mental health needs, and would eventually like to see his client sent to a mental health facility to receive help.

“If that was the determination, then I think all the medical experts would agree that she needs to be treated in a hospital. I don’t think that any kind of release in the near future is in the cards, regardless of the outcome of the trial,” Morton said. “I think everybody realizes that. It will it be up to the doctors to determine what happens after that.”

Gardner’s grandmother and another family member were in court for her brief hearing, but they did not want to talk to the media.

“It has been two years now and it is difficult,” Morton said. “She loved those children. That’s what all the proof I have accumulated shows, without a doubt.”