Facing charges that she failed to protect her son from a sex offender, the mother of a slain 11-year-old will undergo a mental evaluation, attorneys told a city judge Monday.

“She obviously has problems caring for her children,” Baltimore City Assistant State?s Attorney Julie Drake said of Shanda Harris, 41, the mother of Irvin Harris, 11, who was found dead last July behind a Northeast Baltimore church within blocks of his home. Melvin Jones, 53, a family friend and convicted sex offender who babysat for Harris, is charged with Irvin?s murder.