Death Penalty Sought in Child Killing Case

Aug. 8 -- Texas prosecutors say they'll pursue the death penalty for the Houston mother who admitted to drowning her five children in a bathtub.

The announcement came hours after lawyers for Andrea Yates entered not guilty pleas on her behalf in a Houston courtroom, saying she is innocent of the two counts of capital murder she faces because she is insane.

Yates' lawyers filed a psychiatric report on the woman earlier this week and have asked for a hearing on her mental condition, claiming that she has been completely incapable of assisting in her defense.

A Harris County grand jury indicted Yates on capital murder charges last month in the deaths of her sons Noah, 7, and John, 5, and her 6-month-old daughter Mary.

The children, along with their siblings Paul, 3, and Luke, 2, were found dead in their home after Yates called police and allegedly confessed to drowning them.

Police found four of the children lying on a bed in the master bedroom, covered with a sheet. The fifth child, the Yateses' oldest son, was still in the bathtub.

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Yates could have been indicted in all the children's deaths, but prosecutors have said that it is not necessary to seek indictments for all of them. At the request of the 37-year-old defendant's first attorney, Judge Belinda Hill placed a gag order on the lawyers and investigators in the case, and it was unclear why charges were not filed in the deaths of the middle children. Further charges are possible.

The facts surrounding Paul and Luke's deaths may still surface at trial, even if separate indictments are not filed.

Motion for Insanity

Yates' attorneys filed a motion on July 30 stating they plan to use an insanity defense at trial. After the killing, Yates' lawyer, George Parnham, told ABCNEWS his client suffered from "deep psychosis."

According to Yates' husband Russell, she had been suffering from postpartum depression since the birth of their daughter last year.

He said her depression was aggravated by the death of her father in March and that she was on antidepression medication. Andrea, Russell Yates also said, had been treated for depression, and attempted suicide after the birth of their fourth child in 1999.