The Washington Post
HOUSTON — A jury deliberated for just 35 minutes Friday before rejecting the death penalty for Andrea Yates, who intentionally drowned her five children in a bathtub last June.
In deciding on a life prison term instead, the panel disagreed with a prosecutor who argued in court Friday morning that the killings were of such "horrific proportions" that Yates deserved to be executed.
Three days after defense attorneys failed to gain an acquittal for Yates on the basis of insanity, the same jury that convicted her of capital murder gathered in court to determine her fate. Yates, 37, sat mostly expressionless, as she had through much of trial, while lawyer Wendell Odom Jr. pleaded for her life. He told the jury that decades in prison, with the memory of her dead children, would be punishment enough for his client.
"She will be 77 years old before anyone can even consider giving her parole," Odom said. "She will live the rest of her life knowing what she has done."
But prosecutor Kaylynn Williford implored the panel to think of the victims, saying the death penalty would be "appropriate" for Yates because "this crime is a crime of ultimate betrayal — the betrayal of a mother to her children. … Those children never had a chance."
Yates, whose two-year struggle with postpartum mental illness was undisputed by the prosecution, smiled slightly Friday afternoon when the jury announced that it had voted to spare her life. She will be sentenced later by a judge and eligible for parole in 40 years.
Outside the courthouse, defense attorney George Parnham told reporters that Yates on Thursday had written a letter to her husband and other family members, apologizing for causing them pain. "She notes that she regrets that this illness brought her to a place where she was capable of killing her own children," said Parnham. He then quoted from the letter, in which Yates referred lovingly to her daughter and four sons, who were ages 6 months to 7 years.
"Noah, he was my first born," Yates wrote. "He was so inquisitive, and his favorite thing to do was hatching Monarch butterflies. John, with his cute grin. He loved to do crafts and was very enthusiastic. Precious Paul, nurturing and loving, he sought to please us and be special friends to his brothers. Beautiful Luke, trying to keep up with his brothers. He also was nuturing, especially to his baby sister. And beautiful Mary, such a loving baby with the beautiful blue eyes.
"I thank God I was blessed with such a precious family," wrote Yates, who did not testify in the trial.
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