U.S.

Yates Children Laid To Rest

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

June 27, 2001 / 9:45 AM EDT / CBS

Five children whose mother is accused of drowning them were remembered Wednesday in a funeral service led by their grieving father.

With five hearses parked outside, mourners packed a suburban church two blocks from the family's home to hear Russell Yates speak about his children.

"I can't possibly tell you everything there is to know about each one of them," Russell Yates told some 300 mourners at the Clear Lake Church of Christ. "But I can give you a glimpse of who they were."

Angels adorned the corners of the flower-draped white caskets holding the bodies of Noah, 7, John, 5, Paul, 3, Luke, 2 and Mary, six months, at the front of the church.

"He told a story about each one and you just felt like they were your own kids or your neighbor's kids," said Becky Morris, a neighbor.

Mary was dressed in a pink sleeper with Paul to her left and Luke to her right. Noah wore a multicolored sweater emblazoned with a truck. John wore an orange and black sweater.

Noah, Yates said, was intelligent, independent and a lover of bugs; John, rough and tumble with a great smile; Paul the most well-behaved; Luke was the troublemaker, the one most likely to challenge boundaries; and Mary was the "princess" of the family.

"If the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, that's exactly what he's done," Yates said. "He gave me all these children and now he's taken them away."

The children's mother, Andrea Yates, remained in jail under a 24-hour suicide watch. She was said to be suffering from postpartum depression at the time of the killings. She has been charged with capital murder.

As Yates began his eulogies, he remarked how it was "the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

When he was talking about Mary, he said couldn't believe his wife had given birth to a girl.

"I thought boys were all we'd ever have," she said. "I told her I wanted a basketball team first, then we'd talk about girls."

Yates said nothing else about his wife.

He placed a baby blanket with each child, closed the coffins and said goodbye.

"I think that was the hardest thing to see, when he put those little blankets in each casket and then, of course having to close, because that was the last time he'll ever see his children again," said Louise Kitchen, a co-worker.

CBS News Correspondent Maureen Maher reports the service appeared to be another example of a family full of extremes: from an unspeakable crime to an unshakable faith.

Yates, who quoted from the Bible during the funeral, was told by his minister Byron Fike, "You take it one step at a time and that's what he's done, he's taken the first step today and now tomorrow he's going to take another step."

After a service of about 75 minutes, the caskets were wheeled slowly from the church and taken to a nearby cemetery, where Yates wept as he touched each one.

Police say Yates, who was suffering from postpartum depression, told them she drowned the children on June 20 in the bathtub of ther Houston house because she considered herself a bad mother.

Her lawyer, George Parnham, has said Yates is receiving medication in jail, but is in a "deeply psychotic state." Parnham has said he is considering an insanity defense.

A judge imposed a gag order on the case on Tuesday, saying she feared it would be difficult to get an unbiased jury. Yates, 36, could face the death penalty if convicted.

Prosecutor Chuck Rosenthal, reached before the gag order took effect, said a decision on whether to seek the death penalty should be made within three weeks.

Church pastor Byron Fike told reporters before the funeral, which was closed to the media, he would give mourners a "message of hope."

"I don't know how God may use all of this, but I know he is going to use it to bring about some very good things, and Mr. Yates is confident of that, too," Fike said.

"Postpartum depression is receiving a lot of attention now and I think that is a very positive thing," he said.

Fike said Russell Yates, a 36-year-old computer engineer at nearby Johnson Space Center, was holding up remarkably well, bolstered by strong religious beliefs that include the idea that the dead would one day be resurrected.

"He's confident he's going to see these children again," Fike said.

Police were called to the Yates' suburban Houston home June 20, when they found the lifeless bodies of the four youngest children still wet under a sheet on a bed.

A few blocks from the church, four blue balloons and a pink balloon rise up from a makeshift memorial of stuffed animals, flowers and crayon drawings in the Yates' front yard.

"They were all so well-behaved," said Joanne Juren, who owns the bookstore with Arnold. "They were just the perfect little children. I told Andrea the last time she was here that if we had a gold star to give for the best children we would give it to hers. Andrea just beamed."

Prison officials tell CBS News Andrea Yates did not request a television or radio to see or listen to any reports on the funeral, which took place late Wednesday morning.