Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Mother Accused of Killing Her Five Children in Court Today

Aired June 22, 2001 - 07:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: In Houston, next hour, a mother accused of killing her five children goes before a judge.

CNN's Jeff Flock is covering the story -- joins us now live, with more.

Good morning -- Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, good morning, Colleen.

In about an hour and a half's time, she'll be here at this courthouse, before a local judge. But we knew, when the details of this crime began to emerge, they would be certainly be chilling, and that is the case this morning. I bring you the "Houston Chronicle," this morning's edition, citing police sources -- apparently, an investigator who has seen a video tape of Ms. Yates' alleged statement made to police that details just how this crime was carried out -- and indeed, it is chilling.

She describes how her two-year-old son, Luke, was the first that she drowned; her three-year-old, Paul, the second; her five-year-old, John, the third; and then six-month-old Mary. Perhaps the most chilling part of the account is that her seven-year-old, her oldest son, apparently came upon her as she was drowning her 6-month-old and attempted to flee but she, apparently, at least, allegedly, told police that she dragged him back and drowned him as well.

As we reported, at the courthouse here, this a makeshift courthouse behind me. The annex, the main criminal courts building, where this would typically take place, was flooded last week and has been damaged and is not able to be used today. So this is where Ms. Yates will appear.

She made an initial appearance yesterday. We just heard from the prosecutor, Joe Owmby, a local prosecutor, who will be present this morning. He says he expects that this appearance will take just about five minutes or so, and that they are expected to demonstrate probable cause to hold her over, which they are expected to do.

One key question is legal representation. Up to this point, she has not had legal representation. Her husband, Russell, speaking to reporters yesterday, said that would be one of his main tasks, to find her an attorney. He talked about that as well as other matters with reporters yesterday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL YATES, FATHER OF FIVE SLAIN CHILDREN: ... I'm primarily concerned with, you know, just right now attending to my kids and, you know, making sure they get a good burial; you know, are treated good.

And my wife, I'm supportive of her. You know, it's hard because, on the one hand I know she killed our children, you know. But on the other I know that, you know, the woman here is not the woman who killed my children...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLOCK: Important to note that prosecutor Owmby said, based on what he has seen thus far, there is nothing to indicate that prosecutors agree that she was insane, at least based on what has transpired thus far. And of course, Owmby would be one of those making the decision about whether to pursue capital murder and the death penalty for Ms. Yates.

We will be here, of course, and bring to you live her appearance this morning, in about an hour and a half's time.

Colleen, back to you.

MCEDWARDS: Jeff, when people talk about this, and when they talk about the issue of postpartum depression, what I keep hearing people ask is why wasn't she in treatment, or why didn't she get more help? But she was getting help. Is anything more known, at this point, about what kind of care she was under?

FLOCK: Well, indeed, her husband detailed a lot of that, almost surprisingly yesterday, detailed a lot of the care that she was getting. She had some therapy. She was taking antidepressant medication, different kinds of medication over time. And she had as recently as this Monday, apparently, spoken with a doctor about setting up some additional therapy. So in fact, she was getting some treatment -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: All right, CNN's Jeff Flock, thanks very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com