Welcome to Galveston, Andrea

[GalvestonDuck]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... y2/2692299

Yates' medical condition worsens
Mother who drowned her 5 children falls into a psychotic state
By STEVE McVICKER
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

The Clear Lake woman who was convicted of drowning her children in a bathtub has stopped eating and is being treated in a Galveston hospital, her attorney said Tuesday.

Texas prison officials transferred Andrea Yates to John Sealy Hospital Monday because she has lost a significant amount of weight and her mental and physical condition has deteriorated, George Parnham said.

"There's just a blackness to her mental state right now," he said.

Parnham, who represented Yates in her trial and is handling her appeal, said he hopes to meet with her as soon as Thursday at the hospital, part of the University of Texas Medical Branch.

He said, however, "she's in no shape to talk" at present and basically is "incoherent."

Parnham said he did not know whether Yates, 40, was being fed intravenously or how much weight she has lost, but that it is a considerable amount.

Hospital officials referred news media calls to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman, who would only confirm that Yates had been transferred to UTMB. The center provides medical care for the prison system.

Yates' husband, Russell, said he had not known of her transfer to the hospital until being called by the Chronicle.

He said this is the third time during his wife's prison stay that she has lapsed into what he called a "psychotic" state, adding that "this is the worst I've ever seen her, even before the tragedy."

Yates, who described his wife as "fragile" and "precious," said he last visited her on Saturday, as he does about every two weeks. He said she was shaking and delusional. "She thinks the kids are still alive," he said.

Her latest bout with depression, which started about two months ago, began with a change in her medication, Russell Yates said. He declined to specify the drugs she has taken or is taking now.

Andrea Yates called Houston police to the family's Clear Lake-area home in June 2001 and admitted to drowning her five children — Noah, 7; John, 5; Paul, 3; Luke, 2; and Mary, 6 months. She was charged only with the slayings of Noah, John and Mary.

But while she acknowledged killing her children, Yates, who had a history of mental illness, claimed innocence by reason of insanity.

She was convicted of capital murder in March 2002 and sentenced to life in prison.

Yates' condition has fluctuated while at the prison system's Skyview Unit, a psychiatric facility near Rusk.

In September 2003, as she gradually regained lucidity and became more involved in activities at the unit, she also became more aware of what she had done, according to Parnham and her husband.

As a result, they said, she lapsed back into psychosis.

In October 2003, Russell Yates told the Chronicle that prison officials had placed his wife on suicide watch. Parnham said then that prison officials had considered transferring her to UTMB, where she could be fed intravenously.

Parnham said Tuesday that Yates' physical and mental condition has remained delicate.

He said he visited her three weeks ago, but would not comment on what might have sent her into this latest tailspin. Parnham did say she is suffering from severe depression.

"There are a number of issues that have led to (this)," he said.

"She is just physically and mentally exhausted. And obviously, there is concern for her physical well-being, which prompted the transfer."

Parnham praised the treatment Yates has received for her problems, both mental and physical, at the Skyview Unit.

"But it's not a general hospital, and John Sealy is and has an excellent reputation," he said. "She's reached a point where, mentally and physically, she's having a very difficult time."

[george_r_1961]

I dont buy this insanity bullsh*t. She should have gotten the death penalty!

[GalvestonDuck]

She was convicted. Insanity had nothing to do with it. But there'd be some kind of crazy uproar from the ACLU if she was allowed to starve herself to death in prison.

[george_r_1961]

Not even gonna say what I think of the ACLU

[vbhoutex]

I had to giggle at your topic heading GD. didn't even have to ask what it was about since it was all over the news here this am.