She Drowned Her Five Children in Her Bathtub
The story of Andrea Yates and the tragic day of June 20, 2001.
Who is Andrea Yates?
Andrea Yates was born Andrea Kennedy in July of 1964. She was born in Houston, Texas, and was the youngest of five siblings. Growing up, Yates was very outgoing and involved in school. In high school, she was captain of her swim team and an officer of the National Honor Society.
She seemed to have it all on the surface, but beneath, she was battling bulimia and was suffering from depression. After graduating high school as valedictorian, she attended a two-year pre-nursing program and eventually graduated from the University of Texas Health and Science at Houston.
Early Marriage and Home Life
While working as a nurse, Yates met her future husband, Rusty, in the summer of 1989. After dating for four years, they married in April of 1993. From the beginning of their marriage, Yates and Rusty wanted a large family. In February 1994, the start of their large family began with the birth of their first son, Noah. Between 1994 and 1999, Rusty and Yates had four sons.
However, after the birth of their fourth son, Luke, Yates became depressed and started to suffer from suicidal thoughts. In June of 1999, Yates attempted suicide twice. After a series of hospital visits and doctor’s appointments, Yates was put on anti-psychotic medication and diagnosed with psychosis and postpartum depression. Along with this newly diagnosed depression, Yates was advised not to have any more children due to her declining mental health.
However, despite the advice of professionals and his wife’s declining mental health, Rusty urged Yates to have another child, and in November 2000, Yates gave birth to a daughter.
June 20, 2001
On June 20, 2001, after her husband left for work, Yates drowned her five children ranging from 6 months to 7 years while they ate breakfast. Her oldest, Noah, was the last to die and tried running away from Yates when he realized what she was trying to do.
According to TIME, “his mother told police how she chased him and drowned him facedown in 9 inches of cold water in the tub as his baby sister’s body floated next to him.”
After she committed the murders, she called her husband, Rusty, and told him what had happened. When police arrived at the scene, they found the bodies of her four younger children ranging laying next to each other on a bed covered by a sheet. Her oldest son’s body was still in the bathtub.
Trial and Conviction
During her trial in 2002, Yates tried to plead innocence by reason of insanity. However, prosecutors counterargued that she did not meet Texas’ legal definition of insanity.
In Texas, to be considered legally insane, a person must not know the difference between right and wrong while committing the act. Yates, however, confessed to police that she waited until Rusty was gone to fill the bathtub because she felt he might try and stop her from killing her children. This, in turn, proved she had the mens rea or knowledge that she was committing a crime- throwing her insanity plea out the window.
It took the jury less than four hours of deliberation to find her guilty of capital murder. She was sentenced to life in prison with the eligibility of parole after 40 years.
Reversal
In January 2005, Yates’ conviction was reversed due to the false testimony of the prosecution’s expert witness, psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz. Dr. Dietz had originally testified that Yates had gotten the idea of drowning her children from an episode of Law and Order that was airing on the morning of June 20, 2001. A writer from the show, however, reported that an episode of that nature had not existed. A Texas Court of Appeals stated that the jury’s decision might have been influenced by the testimony of Dr. Dietz, stating a new trial was necessary.
In July of 2006, Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity after three days of deliberation. After this conviction, Yates was sent to Kerrville State Hospital- a mental health facility- in Kerrville, Texas. This is where Andrea Yates remains today.
