dictionary

Mother accused of drowning children ruled competent for trial

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- A jury decided Saturday that a Houston woman accused of killing her five children in the family bathtub is competent to stand trial.

The jury deliberated for more than eight hours over two days before deciding that Andrea Yates, 37, could stand trial for the June 20 killings.

"I'm not surprised by the verdict at all," said defense attorney George Parnham, who had argued that his client is incompetent to stand trial. "Now we take it to the next level."

The next level is a trial for Yates, indicted in July by a Harris County grand jury for three of the five fatalities -- the deaths of Noah, 7; John, 5; and 6-month-old Mary Yates. If convicted, she could be eligible for the death penalty.

John and Mary, along with Paul, 3; and Luke, 2, were found on a bed. Noah was found dead in the bathtub.

Yates had been treated for postpartum depression after delivering her fourth and fifth child. Her attorneys said she has a history of mental illness and argued that she is not fit to stand trial.

Defense attorney Wendell Odom had asked the jury to find Yates incompetent now to give her more time to recover fully before a trial is held. He refused to comment on the panel's decision, citing a gag order that Judge Belinda Hill issued.

The jury's decision is not all bad, said Parnham. If the panel had ruled Yates incompetent she would have been sent "to a facility foreign to her," he said. "Right now she's with people that have attended to her mental needs and care for her greatly. I'm happy as far as that aspect is concerned."

Yates is at a mental facility at the Harris County Jail. She "doesn't appreciate the gravity of what has happened," Parnham said.

Parnham said he expected Yates' trial to begin in January at the earliest.

Yates' husband, Russell, is a NASA computer specialist at the Johnson Space Center. He was at work at the time of the drownings.

He said his wife called him at work afterward to tell him to come home. Concerned by the tone of her voice, he asked if anyone was hurt. She responded, yes, it was the children -- "all of them."

When he arrived at home, he found police at the scene and his children dead.