Andrea Yates: A Tragedy of Motherhood

Kenshin Y
Nov 19
6 min read

Updated: Nov 30

On June 20, 2001, Andrea Yates, a 37-year-old mother suffering from severe mental illness, drowned her five children in the bathtub of her Houston home. Her confession to 911, and the shocking methodical nature of what followed, sent shockwaves through the nation.

Andrea Yates' case is a tragic story that confront how psychosis, religion, and systemic healthcare failures can collide and how the law responds when a mother’s mind is so deeply fractured.

Background: Life, Motherhood, and Mental Decline

Andrea Pia Kennedy was born July 3, 1964, in Houston, Texas. She was the youngest of five children and her family was devoutly Christian, which later played into her delusions. Throughout her teenage years, she battled depression and bulimia.

She was trained as a nurse and worked at MD Anderson Cancer Center before becoming a full-time stay-at-home mother.

She married Rusty Yates in 1993 and together, they had five children: Noah, John, Paul, Luke, and Mary.

After some pregnancies, she was diagnosed with postpartum depression and later psychosis. Her medication compliance was erratic and she had multiple psychiatric hospitalisations. For example, she attempted suicide in 1999.

In March 2001, she stopped taking her antipsychotic medication (Haldol) around two months before the tragic event.

The Tragedy: What Really Happened on June 20, 2001

Yates' home in Clear Lake, Texas, where the drownings and murders took place

On the morning of June 20, 2001, Rusty Yates left for work, leaving Andrea alone with the children. According to her own confession, she waited until he left because she believed he would have prevented the killings.

Andrea was, against a physician’s orders, left alone with the children. Rusty’s mother, Dora, was supposed to arrive about an hour later to help, but in that gap, the unthinkable unfolded.

Once alone, Andrea filled the family bathtub with several inches of water, preparing for what she would later describe as a “saving” act. She methodically drowned her children, one after another:

First she took in Paul (3), Luke (2), and John (5), submerging them one by one.

After She carried their limp bodies into the master bedroom, laid them side by side on the bed, and covered them with a sheet.

Next, she drowned Mary, the youngest of the children who was a 6-month-old baby, leaving her body floating in the tub.

Her eldest son, Noah (7), entered the bathroom, saw what was happening and tried to run.

Andrea chased him, caught him, and forced him into the tub, holding him underwater until he died. Noah was left floating in the bathtub.

After the drownings, she placed Mary in the arms of John on the bed.

She then calmly called 911, telling the operator she needed a police officer. She also called her husband at work, telling him to come back home immediately.

When officers arrived, they found four children on the bed and Noah face-down in the bathtub. According to reports, Andrea stood quietly, was cooperative, and told police, “I just killed my kids.”

Motivations & Delusions

In her later interviews and psychiatric evaluations, Andrea said she was tormented by religious delusions. She believed Satan was influencing her, and her children were destined for hell unless she intervened.

She told experts that she resisted drowning them in earlier episodes, but over time, she came to see it as necessary and even morally right.

In her mind, the drownings were not a violent act, but a form of spiritual rescue.

A July 27, 2001, video shows Yates talking with a psychiatrist in jail.

Failures in the Healthcare System

Andrea had repeated psychiatric hospitalisations, but her outpatient care was insufficient. She struggled to remain consistent with her medication, especially in the months before the tragedy.

Despite a psychiatrist’s warning that more children could trigger psychotic episodes, she became pregnant again.

Her medical providers and her support system underestimated how badly she was deteriorating as she was allowed to be left alone with her children, even though continuous supervision had been recommended.

The lack of consistent care, poor medication management, and insufficient monitoring helped create a dangerous vulnerability.

Psychology of Postpartum Psychosis

Postpartum psychosis is a very rare but serious psychiatric disorder, often involving hallucinations, delusions, and extreme mood disturbances. Psychosis can severely impair one’s ability to distinguish between internal delusions and external reality.

Symptoms in Yates’ Case:

Hallucinations (hearing voices) and delusional beliefs (religious, moral).
Impaired judgement: she genuinely believed her children were spiritually "damaged" and needed to be taken to God to avoid eternal damnation.
Intense guilt, self-loathing, and a conviction that she was a “bad mother.”

Being a full-time mother of five, often isolated at home, also heightened stress and vulnerability, worsening her psychotic state.

Her moral judgment was deeply distorted: killing them was, in her psychotic worldview, the only salvation.

Psychiatrists later testified that she believed drowning was the “right” thing to do for their souls. According to her psychiatrist, she repeatedly expressed that the sin of motherhood and her children’s fate “depended” on her act.

The moral delusion transformed her psychosis from a purely psychiatric disorder into a spiritual mission. In her mind, she was saving her children, not harming them.

Religion & Moral Delusion in Psychosis

Andrea’s religious beliefs played a central role in her psychosis. She grew up in a Christian environment, and her delusions stemmed from religious morality.

She believed she was on a mission from God, that saving her children from eternal damnation was, in her mind, an act of mercy.

Her husband, Rusty, and her religious community reportedly reinforced Christian narratives, increasing her sense of guilt and moral obligation.

Legal Proceedings and the Insanity Defence

Yates is escorted into court in Houston. Her trial began on February 18, 2002.

First Trial (2002):

Andrea was charged with capital murder.
The defence argued insanity, saying she believed killing her children was morally necessary to save them.
The jury rejected the insanity defence and found her guilty, sentencing her to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

Appeal & Retrial:

Her conviction was overturned in 2005 due to problematic expert testimony from the prosecution.
In 2006, during her retrial, she was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Expert psychiatrists testified that she "could not appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions" due to her psychotic delusions.

Andrea Yates sits with her attorney, George Parnham, after a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity was read in her retrial on July 26, 2006.

Prosecutor Kaylynn Williford addresses the jury during closing arguments in Yates' retrial on July 24, 2006.

Aftermath: Where is Yates now?

After her 2006 verdict, Andrea Yates was committed to a psychiatric hospital for long-term treatment.

Her lawyer, George Parnham, still visits her and places flowers on her children’s grave, a poignant act of memory and respect.

According to recent reports, she continues to decline petitions for release. She remains in a structured, therapeutic environment receiving ongoing psychiatric care.

Public Reaction & Lessons

Media coverage often sensationalised Andrea as a “monster mother,” reinforcing stigma rather than understanding. Religious and moral delusions made her story even more shocking and captivating.

Many saw her as simply evil, others viewed her through a more empathetic, psychiatric lens.

Her case raised uncomfortable but crucial questions. How should society treat mentally ill parents? How do we avoid such cases from occurring in the future?

The tragedy highlights the need for better screening and follow-up for postpartum women. There is a heavy importance of continuous care and crisis intervention.

Advocates argue for heavier regulations for legal protections and healthcare systems that prevent psychotic cases from escalating.

Timeline of Events

July 3, 1964

Andrea Pia Kennedy born.

1993

Marries Rusty Yates

1999

Suicide attempt, hospitalisation, psychiatric diagnoses worsen.

March 2001

Stops her antipsychotic medication.

June 20, 2001

Fills the bathtub, drowns her five children, calls 911.

2002

First trial, convicted of capital murder.

2005

Conviction overturned.

2006

Retrial, acquitted by reason of insanity.

Post 2006 - Present

Institutionalised in a Texas psychiatric hospital, ongoing treatment.

Personal Takeaway

Studying the Andrea Yates case helped me understand the deep intersection between mental illness, legal systems, and public judgment. What happened was horrific, but it was also the result of a system that repeatedly failed to recognise the severity of her psychosis and protect both her and her children.

For me, this case highlights how vital it is to protect the vulnerable, because without that awareness, we punish people for symptoms rather than choices. It’s a reminder that effective mental-health care isn’t just compassion. It’s a necessary part of preventing future tragedies.