Psy 303 - Abnormal Psychology

Andrea Yates

Tracy Jones

Stephen Brewer

PSY 303: Abnormal Psychology

December 19, 2011

Andrea Yates

On June 20, 2001, Andrea Yates took the lives of her five children ranging in age from 6 months to 7 years old. The children had just finished breakfast, and their father had just left for work. Ms. Yates filled the bathtub with water and drowned her children one by one. Andrea dialed the number for emergency services after she drowned the children and instructed the police to come to her house (McLellan, 2006). Ms. Yates called her husband, Russell, and asked him to come home from work. The police arrived at the Yates’ home to assess the problem and was met by Andrea who stated “I killed my kids.”

Ms. Yates admitted to the police in jail that she had contemplated killing the children 2 years prior to the incident. Andrea did not consider herself to be a good mother, because she did not think the children were developing properly. Ms. Yates claimed that she had been marked by Satan, and the only way to save her children from hell was to kill them (McLellan, 2006). Andrea also claimed that Satan would be destroyed after she received punishment from the state for killing her children. Ms. Yates believed that cartoon characters talked to her and told her she was not a good mother. Andrea claimed a voice in her head told her to get a knife. Ms. Yates claimed that she saw satanic teddy bears and ducks on the walls of the jail (McLellan, 2006). Ms. Yates stated that she was not mentally ill and was not depressed because she had never cried (McLellan, 2006).

Ms. Yates was charged with capital murder after her arrest (McLellan, 2006). Andrea entered a plea of not guilty by a claim of insanity. Andrea had a jury trial in 2001 that found her guilty, and she received a sentence of life in prison. The prosecutors had asked for the death sentence. A person that receives a life sentence in the state of Texas would have to serve 40 years before parole eligibility. Andrea’s conviction was overturned on the basis of false testimony given by one of the witnesses for the prosecution (McLellan, 2006). Ms. Yates was given the opportunity to have a new trial. The new trial occurred in July, 2006. Andrea was found not guilty by reason of insanity on July 26, 2006. She was transferred and committed to a state mental hospital.

Ms. Yates revealed signs of a mental illness after she delivered her first child. Andrea experienced hallucinations that involved a person being stabbed. The delivery of her fourth child caused her to attempt suicide by overdosing on sedatives. She was hospitalized