LAGUNA NIGUEL : Insanity Plea in Slaying of Children

A woman charged with shooting her two young daughters to death pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday, prompting the judge to appoint two doctors to evaluate her mental condition.

Kristine Marie Cushing, 39, whose husband is a Marine officer who was in the Gulf War, entered the plea in the Oct. 13 deaths of daughters Amy Elizabeth, 8, and Stephanie Marie, 4.

Orange County Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan appointed a psychiatrist and a psychologist to examine Cushing and submit a report Feb. 7--when the court is to schedule a trial--on her mental state.

Cushing allegedly shot the children in their heads in the master bedroom of her Laguna Niguel home before turning the .38-caliber handgun on herself, authorities say. She was merely grazed and called 911 moments later.

Prosecutors have charged her with two counts of first-degree murder.

Cushing’s attorney, Michael J. Cassidy, has said his client was suffering from a mental illness, was under psychiatric care and been taking Prozac--an antidepressant drug--for three to five months before the shootings.

Before the shooting, Cushing had been seeking a divorce from her husband, Marine Lt. Col. John P. Cushing Jr., commander of an El Toro-based squadron of fighter jets.