| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Monday, March 25 2002 |
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| I have a compelling urge to write my thoughts down on paper. But today I am not writing as a journalist, or as a Hispanic-American concerned about the troubles of Latin America and Latinos in the United States. Today I am writing as a mother. As a journalist I have been following the Andrea Yates case since the tragedy occurred, but as a mother it has been very difficult for me to look at it in terms of black and white. I fully understand the defense's argument that this is a woman with a mental illness. But I cannot get the children's innocent faces out of my mind. I just cannot comprehend how any mother, no matter how depressed or psychotic she might be, can take each of her five children and drown them, one by one.
I wonder what could have been going through her mind as she watched the first child under water simply fade away. Is it possible that with one child dead, she had the strength to go after the next one and drown him also? Did she feel no remorse as her son said, "I'm sorry, Mommy"? With four of her children already dead, was her urge to kill them so strong that she had to run after the fifth to make sure he didn't get away?
Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to be a mother. My wish came true later in life. After a couple of miscarriages, I finally had my first child shortly before turning 40. The day after Julia was born, I was watching the news from my hospital bed and was stunned to see that Susan Smith, the woman who had cried on national television, asking that her kidnapped children be returned, admitted to having drowned them herself. Holding my daughter in my arms, I cried.
It's amazing to see just how many cases there are of mothers or fathers who kill their children. I cannot think of a more horrific crime than taking the life of an innocent child -- and even worse, one you gave life to. No one in his or her right mind could possibly kill his or her child. And that is precisely what the defense in the Andrea Yates case wanted to prove during the trial -- that she was not in her right mind when she killed her kids. Most mothers who have gone through postpartum depression, myself included, can attest to the horrible thoughts that go through your mind. But even if Mrs. Yates' depression was severe, even if she was psychotic, I find it virtually impossible that any jury could find her not guilty. Andrea Yates killed her five children. That is a fact. She admitted to doing so, and she was sane enough to call the police to let them know she had done something bad. She knew right from wrong.
There are so many ways to try to rationalize this case. Not only was Andrea Yates suffering from mental illness, but she also had a husband who, in my opinion, pushed her to the edge. Having four kids is enough to drive any woman crazy. Having to school them at home and be with them 24 hours a day could easily make a person psychotic. If Mr. Yates knew of his wife's illness, how could he allow her to get pregnant again? Why did Mr. Yates not give his wife some breathing room?
A letter to The New York Times suggested that there should be a new category in criminal justice: "guilty but insane." Andrea Yates would fit that perfectly, and her husband could be tried as her accomplice. If I were her, I would have preferred to be sentenced to death. She said she killed her kids to spare them from Satan. But with the memory of each of her children's deaths by her own hands, she will surely be living in hell. |
