Harris County District Attorney Joseph S. Owmby, who helped pros­e­cute Andrea Yates for cap­i­tal mur­der, recent­ly told a gath­er­ing of 200 Houston area men­tal health and law enforce­ment pro­fes­sion­als that had Yates received more hos­pi­tal treat­ment for her post­par­tum depres­sion, she prob­a­bly would­n’t have mur­dered her chil­dren. Owmby not­ed that Yates lost her last chance for recov­ery when she was released from a hos­pi­tal in League City while she was still dan­ger­ous­ly delu­sion­al. He said that what hap­pened two weeks after Yates’ release is a fright­en­ing exam­ple of how post­par­tum depres­sion and psy­chosis can lead to severe child abuse. Despite the fact that the state had asked for the death penal­ty, Yates’ jury sen­tenced her to life in prison. (San Antonio Express-News, December 17, 2003) See New Voices.

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