NORFOLK -- Toward the end, Sonita L. Barkley juggled baby sitters, graveyard shifts at a Texaco for roughly $7.50 an hour and the needs of her three boys.
She kept smiling, even when she appeared exhausted.
Sometimes she dropped 4-year-old Jehdiah off at his pre-kindergarten still wearing her Texaco shirt after an all-night shift. She would have her other two children -- Abijah, 3, and Shereef, 7 months -- in tow.
Later, she'd pick her boy up. She would talk to teachers. She was interested, pleasant.
The 24-year-old woman's demeanor seldom betrayed her struggle to provide.
But on Friday, Sept. 27, she confided to a colleague during one of those all-night shifts at the Airport Texaco that she was down to $100 or so. She owed her baby sitter around $50, she told Leonard Lawton during a lull around 4:30 a.m. Her baby needed milk, Pampers. Her car needed gas.
Her rent was due Monday, she told him.
Barkley wasn't smiling. She appeared near tears.
Lawton lent his ear. He urged her not to give up.
``Pray about it,'' he told her. ``Just keep praying.''
Two days later, police said, she drowned her three children in their bathtub. Early Monday, she apparently leaped off the Campostella Bridge to her own death in the Elizabeth River. She left no note, police have said. Evidence indicates she acted alone.
She kept smiling, even when she appeared exhausted.
Sometimes she dropped 4-year-old Jehdiah off at his pre-kindergarten still wearing her Texaco shirt after an all-night shift. She would have her other two children -- Abijah, 3, and Shereef, 7 months -- in tow.
Later, she'd pick her boy up. She would talk to teachers. She was interested, pleasant.
The 24-year-old woman's demeanor seldom betrayed her struggle to provide.
But on Friday, Sept. 27, she confided to a colleague during one of those all-night shifts at the Airport Texaco that she was down to $100 or so. She owed her baby sitter around $50, she told Leonard Lawton during a lull around 4:30 a.m. Her baby needed milk, Pampers. Her car needed gas.
Her rent was due Monday, she told him.
Barkley wasn't smiling. She appeared near tears.
Lawton lent his ear. He urged her not to give up.
``Pray about it,'' he told her. ``Just keep praying.''
Two days later, police said, she drowned her three children in their bathtub. Early Monday, she apparently leaped off the Campostella Bridge to her own death in the Elizabeth River. She left no note, police have said. Evidence indicates she acted alone.
NORFOLK -- Toward the end, Sonita L. Barkley juggled baby sitters, graveyard shifts at a Texaco for roughly $7.50 an hour and the needs of her three boys.
She kept smiling, even when she appeared exhausted.
Sometimes she dropped 4-year-old Jehdiah off at his pre-kindergarten still wearing her Texaco shirt after an all-night shift. She would have her other two children -- Abijah, 3, and Shereef, 7 months -- in tow.
Later, she'd pick her boy up. She would talk to teachers. She was interested, pleasant.
The 24-year-old woman's demeanor seldom betrayed her struggle to provide.
But on Friday, Sept. 27, she confided to a colleague during one of those all-night shifts at the Airport Texaco that she was down to $100 or so. She owed her baby sitter around $50, she told Leonard Lawton during a lull around 4:30 a.m. Her baby needed milk, Pampers. Her car needed gas.
Her rent was due Monday, she told him.
Barkley wasn't smiling. She appeared near tears.
Lawton lent his ear. He urged her not to give up.
``Pray about it,'' he told her. ``Just keep praying.''
Two days later, police said, she drowned her three children in their bathtub. Early Monday, she apparently leaped off the Campostella Bridge to her own death in the Elizabeth River. She left no note, police have said. Evidence indicates she acted alone.
She kept smiling, even when she appeared exhausted.
Sometimes she dropped 4-year-old Jehdiah off at his pre-kindergarten still wearing her Texaco shirt after an all-night shift. She would have her other two children -- Abijah, 3, and Shereef, 7 months -- in tow.
Later, she'd pick her boy up. She would talk to teachers. She was interested, pleasant.
The 24-year-old woman's demeanor seldom betrayed her struggle to provide.
But on Friday, Sept. 27, she confided to a colleague during one of those all-night shifts at the Airport Texaco that she was down to $100 or so. She owed her baby sitter around $50, she told Leonard Lawton during a lull around 4:30 a.m. Her baby needed milk, Pampers. Her car needed gas.
Her rent was due Monday, she told him.
Barkley wasn't smiling. She appeared near tears.
Lawton lent his ear. He urged her not to give up.
``Pray about it,'' he told her. ``Just keep praying.''
Two days later, police said, she drowned her three children in their bathtub. Early Monday, she apparently leaped off the Campostella Bridge to her own death in the Elizabeth River. She left no note, police have said. Evidence indicates she acted alone.
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