Andrea Yates Could Be Released From Psychiatric Hospital to Attend Church
Andrea Yates, the Houston mom who in 2001 drowned her five young children one-by-one in the bathtub, might soon be allowed to leave the state psychiatric hospital where she is being treated for mental illness to attend church.
“She’s been approved by a certain church to attend Sunday services, and I anticipate that that recommendation will be forthcoming from her doctors,” Yates’ attorney George Parnham told ABCNews.com. He would not name the church.
Parnham said he expects doctors at Kerrville State Hospital to file a letter to the state district court within 10 days recommending that Yates be granted a two-hour pass to attend church on Sundays, the first step toward a permanent release.
“I hope that little by little she will adapt to the outside world by taking baby steps,” he said.
Yates was convicted of capital murder in 2002, but acquitted in 2006 after jurors found her innocent by reason of insanity. The stay-at-home mom had a history of mental illness and suicide attempts before drowning Noah, 7, John, 5, Paul, 3, Luke 2, and Mary, 6 months, after her husband, Rusty, left for work.
WTF??