Andrea Yates' Chilling Motive For Murdering Her Children

Rusty and Andrea Yates' first child, Noah, was born on February 26, 1994. Shortly thereafter, Andrea experienced a frightening hallucination, in which she believed Satan instructed her to stab someone with a knife. It is unclear whether Andrea had any more hallucinations between 1994 and the birth of her fourth child, Luke, in February 1999. However, My Plainview reports that Luke's birth seemed to cause Andrea's mental health challenges to escalate.

On June 16, 1999, Rusty was at work when he received a frantic phone call from Andrea — who asked him to come home immediately. When he arrived home, he found his wife crying inconsolably. She was also shaking and appeared to be in great distress. The following day, Andrea overdosed on Trazodone, which was prescribed to her father and, according to Medline Plus, is used to treat depression.

As reported by The Lancet, Andrea was then admitted to a mental health facility. However, she was released prematurely as her insurance provider would only cover a limited number of days for inpatient mental healthcare.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute on Mental Health website.