Mother accused of child-killing weeps
Andrea Yates sobbed during her murder trial yesterday as prosecutors showed the jury in Houston, Texas, a picture of four of her drowned children on a bed and a video-tape of her fifth child floating face down in a bathtub.
The bodies were found at the family’s Houston home on June 20 after Yates called police to say she had killed her children. The oldest child was seven; the youngest, Mary, was six months old.
ates, 37, has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity. Her lawyers say was suffering from postpartum depression.
The first photo shown was displayed on a large screen and duplicated on monitors at the defence table in the Houston courtroom.
After Yates began to cry, prosecutor Kaylynn Williford walked to the front of the jury box to show the rest of the graphic pictures, including one of seven-year-old Noah in the bathtub.
Prosecutors and defence lawyers had haggled over which of the 39 photos should be admitted into evidence. Yates, who is taking powerful anti-psychotic drugs as she attends the trial, was not in the courtroom then.
State District Judge Belinda Hill admitted 29 of the photos, including close-ups of the children’s faces and detailed bruising, along with the video-tape.
The photos were introduced during the testimony of police officer Glenn West, who described the soggy hallway between the back bedroom and the bathroom, where Noah was floating in the water.
One of the two charges against Yates covers the drownings of Noah and John, both aged five. The other covers the death of Mary. Charges eventually could be filed in the deaths of Paul, three, and two-year-old Luke.
The trial is expected to last three weeks. At issue is whether Yates suffered from a severe mental disease and knew the difference between right and wrong at the time of the drownings.
If Yates is found innocent by reason of insanity, a hearing will be held where she will either be released or involuntarily committed. If she is convicted, the jury must determine whether she should serve a life sentence or be put to death.
