Lawyer plans mental disease defense for woman accused of killing mother

An Oceanside attorney pleaded not guilty Friday to an indictment charging her with murder in the fatal stabbing of her 79-year-old mother.

Authorities say Suzan Grossman-Kerner, 56, stabbed her mother multiple times in the head and neck last summer after becoming enraged as the two argued about the daughter's "ongoing medical conditions."

The Aug. 17 slaying happened inside victim Irma Grossman's home on Terrell Avenue in Oceanside, and police found a kitchen knife with what looked like blood on it in the defendant's car parked out front, authorities said.

Grossman-Kerner is charged with second-degree murder and faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Defense attorney Todd Greenberg has said his client suffers from mental illness. He asked a judge to allow "immediate psychiatric care" for her following her arrest.

On Friday, he said a Nassau judge found his client competent to proceed with the case. The Forest Hills attorney said he's planning a defense saying Grossman-Kerner is not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect.

Greenberg said the defendant has been back and forth between the jail and hospital since her arrest.

The defendant's husband, Sherman Kerner, previously called the case "a tragedy for everybody involved."