Rusty Yates, the ex-husband of Andrea Yates, who infamously drowned their five children in 2001, has since forgiven her and even communicates with her regularly at the mental hospital where she resides. Rusty calls Kerrville State Hospital to talk to Andrea at least once a month, discussing their slain children who would all be adults now. He has also visited her in the facility intended for those deemed incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of insanity.
After divorcing Andrea in 2002, Rusty remarried and had another child, but that marriage also ended in divorce. He continues to work as a NASA engineer, the same job he held when Andrea committed the horrific crime of drowning their children one by one. Rusty maintains a website that aims to keep the memory of their children alive.
Despite the unfathomable act committed by Andrea, Rusty believes she was a wonderful mother and attributes her behavior to an underlying sickness. He asserts that she would have never harmed their children if not for her mental illness. Rusty emphasizes that forgiveness is an essential step in coping with the tragedy and understanding Andrea’s actions as a result of her sickness.
Andrea Yates drowned her five children in June 2001, waiting for Rusty to go to work before committing the heinous act. She was later charged with five counts of capital murder, with the prosecution advocating for the death penalty. However, the defense argued that Andrea suffered from severe depression and psychosis due to recent childbirth, leading to her actions.
Initially convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life, Andrea shared delusional thoughts in prison, claiming her children were not righteous and were doomed to perish in the fires of hell because of her evil. She was later found not guilty by reason of insanity in a retrial in 2006, due to her mental state at the time of the crime. Andrea has remained at Kerrville State Hospital since then and has chosen not to petition for release.
Although Rusty initially doubted Andrea’s postpartum depression and psychosis defense, he now views her mental illness as akin to a physical ailment such as a heart attack. He compares the circumstances of her crime to a hypothetical scenario where he caused a fatal car accident due to a heart attack but was not prosecuted for capital murder. Rusty highlights the importance of understanding mental illness in preventing tragedies like the one that befell his family.
