Melanie Ochs may stand accused of murdering her foster child, but on Friday her focus was on reuniting with her two surviving children.

"I love my children, and I would do anything to get them back," Ochs said during a brief interview.

Moments earlier, Ochs entered a no-contest plea in Family Court to a petition alleging child abuse and neglect. The petition specifically involved allegations that she physically abused or improperly supervised the infant known as "Baby Boy Charles," her 7-month-old foster child, who died Aug. 4, and that she neglected all her children by having a messy house.

Ochs, 38, entered the plea during a closed hearing before Juvenile Hearing Master Frank Sullivan. She was joined by her mother, Ann, and her husband, Laurence Tokarski.

Defense attorney Robert Langford said Ochs decided to enter the no-contest plea, rather than proceed with a trial, "because it was the quickest way of beginning the process of getting the kids back." Abuse and neglect trials in Family Court are civil proceedings in which government attorneys need only prove their case by a preponderance of the evidence.

Ochs' own children, a 2-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old adopted son, were taken from her custody when Child Protective Services began investigating the infant's death.

Langford said the children are considered wards of the court, but Tokarski has had physical custody of them since early October.

Ochs said she has not seen her children since her Oct. 5 arrest on a charge of first-degree murder, although she talks to them daily by telephone.

"We just told them that I had to go on a business trip," she said. "They don't understand."

Her murder trial is scheduled to begin May 14 in District Court.

Langford said Ochs, who is on house arrest, was released on bail about a month ago. She has rented an apartment and is looking for a job. Meanwhile, her mother is living with Tokarski and helping care for the children.

Ochs hopes she soon will be granted supervised visits with her children, Langford said.

The attorney said Sullivan appointed a psychiatrist Friday to evaluate the children. Ochs must return to Family Court on Dec. 7.

"The children are currently being seen by another psychiatrist dealing with separation anxiety," Langford said.

He said the children will continue seeing that psychiatrist, who is being paid by Ochs and her husband.

When asked how she and her husband are coping with the ordeal, which has led to a forced separation of their family, Ochs said, "It's strengthening our marriage, but it's destroying our children."

Authorities determined that the infant's death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head that was not accidental.

According to her arrest report, Ochs called 911 on Aug. 2 after she found the infant not breathing in his crib at her home on Dune Cove Road, near Sahara Avenue and Fort Apache Road. He died two days later in the hospital.

Langford has said his client is innocent but has declined to explain his defense.

"This is a person who's never had a traffic ticket," the attorney said.

Ochs said she studied child development in college and taught preschool for 16 years in San Diego and Las Vegas. She also worked for the Clark County School District as a substitute teacher for two years.

"There were schools that requested me constantly," she said. "I was always booked."

Ochs said she and her husband, who have been married for seven years, moved to Las Vegas in the summer of 2000. She said they cared for 13 foster children, including the one they adopted, over a three-year period.

"Typically, we had newborn drug babies," she said.