A San Francisco mother accused of killing her two young daughters has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.
Paulesha Green-Pulliam’s arraignment in San Francisco Superior Court Friday came exactly a week after police arrested the 34-year-old at her Bayview home where they found the lifeless bodies of her 1-year-old and 5-year-old girls.
She was set to be charged Wednesday, but a judge pushed the hearing back by a couple of days to give her attorney, Deputy Public Defender Phoenix Streets, time to review the evidence.
Green-Pulliam faces life without parole if convicted of the two murder counts and other charges in the slaying of her daughters, who were identified in court as 5-year-old Justice A. and 1-year-old Paragon A.
During Friday’s arraignment, the defense asked that Green-Pulliam undergo medical and psychological evaluations. The court will decide on Jan. 5 when to set a preliminary hearing date.
Green-Pulliam was arrested on Dec. 23, after the children's father returned home and found the girls unresponsive. According to the charging documents, the murders allegedly took place between Dec. 21 and Dec. 23.
Much remains unknown about what transpired during that period, including how the children were killed, Streets told journalists after the arraignment.
“We really don’t know what happened,” he said. “It’s a tragic circumstance for everyone involved, all the family members. Everyone is traumatized.”
Streets urged the public to withhold judgment “until you have the opportunity to hear the evidence.”