CO - Grace Headlee, 4, & Gabriel Amaya, 5 mos, drowned, Lamar, 16 Oct 2003 *Insanity*

Jeana (DP)

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Woman who pleaded not guilty to drowning children will not stand trial


LAMAR, Colo. (AP) — A woman who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to drowning her daughter and infant son will not stand trial, a judge said.

The announcement Monday came after prosecutors told District Judge Douglas Tallman they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Rebekah Amaya, 33, was legally sane when the children were drowned.

Amaya pleaded not guilty in March to two counts of first-degee murder for drowning her daughter, Grace Headlee, 4, and son, Gabriel Amaya, 5 months, in a bathtub in the family's home in October 2003. Her husband found the children, then discovered his wife unconscious with superficial knife wounds on her wrist, police said.

Investigators said Amaya told them she killed the children after receiving a sign from a spider that crawled across her hand.

Amaya, who has been jailed without bond since her arrest, is scheduled to return to court Jan. 31. She faces commitment at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo for an indeterminate amount of time.

Her attorney did not immediately return a call. Prosecutor Mike Davidson declined to comment, citing a gag order.


www.courttv.com
 
A sign from a spider? :waitasec:

I think she read charlotte's web too many times :confused:
 
Woman who drowned children found not guilty by reason of insanity


LAMAR, Colo. (AP) — A woman who told investigators she drowned her two children after receiving a sign from a spider was found not guilty by reason of insanity Monday and ordered to be committed to the state mental hospital for an indeterminate period.

Two defense psychiatrists and another testifying on behalf of prosecutors told a judge during an eight-hour hearing that Rebekah Amaya was insane at the time of the October 2003 drownings.

Amaya, who was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Grace Headlee, 4, and Gabriel Amaya, 5 months, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

After several evaluations, psychiatrists had found her competent to stand trial but insane at the time of the slayings. Prosecutors said they were unable to prove otherwise.

Amaya, who did not speak during the hearing, can request a release after 180 days.

David Johnson of Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo and Karen Fukutaki of Denver Health Medical Center testified on behalf of Amaya's defense.

The psychiatrists said Amaya said she thought there were evil spirits in the house and in her children and that killing them would set them free.

She also told psychiatrists that Gabriel told her to kill him saying, "`Go ahead and do it mommy, get it done, get it done."'

The prosecution's psychiatrist, Park Dietz of Newport, Calif., who also evaluated Andrea Yates, the Houston mother who drowned her five children, said Amaya's statement showed she was delusional.

"An infant this age said that? We all know that can't be true," Dietz testified. "She later expressed that she wasn't sure what was true. She even asked if the children were alive after she killed them. Those are delirious perceptions."

Police say Amaya told them she killed the children after getting a sign from a spider that crawled across her hand.

www.courttv.com
 
Rebekah Amaya clearly appears to be insane. She has demonstrated insane acts for years before she had her 2 children, and before she killed them. I do not understand why sane men have children with obviously insane women then are surprised when insane acts occur.

Judge Douglas Tallman yesterday committed Rebekah Amaya indefinitely to a mental institution. Her children have long since been placed in their graves.- http://www.lamardaily.com/Stories/0,1413,121~7979~2690394,00.html

Rebekah is unlikely to ever find herself outside a mental institution again. If she does, shame on the state of Colorado for releasing an insane woman back into society.
 
What the? Insane then, not now?????
Why this "woman" would even want to live now, is beyond belief. She needs a labotomy. May she never step foot outside her confines. SOOO SAD!!! But the nerve to repeat that her son said to do it!!!!!
I'm just sickened. (Too bad her self-inflicted wounds were just superficial.)
Gonna go now, kiss my little one again, and say some prayers.
 
I'm with Lovely Pigeon on this one. These men who leave their children in the care of an obviously nutso wife should be charged with negligent homicide in a case like this. I see it as being no different than leaving young children home alone with a loaded gun sitting on the table.
 
Andrea Yates still resides in a prison psychiatric ward, though her conviction was overturned a month ago by a Texas appeals court. If she's released from prison she just might become a roommate of Rebekah Amaya in a Colorado mental institute.

Yates and Amaya are both obviously and chronically mentally ill and will never again live outside of institutions.
 
If Yates conviction was overturned, why is she even still in jail or prison? If the state decides not to retry the case, I dont understand how anyone could force Andrea to do anything.
 
Timex said:
If Yates conviction was overturned, why is she even still in jail or prison? If the state decides not to retry the case, I dont understand how anyone could force Andrea to do anything.


Timex, I understood that her attorney didn't want her moved only to be moved again in a short period of time. Apparently, she doesn't handle the changes well and could be thrown into another "bad spell" of her depression. They said that she's doing well in the hospital and they're afraid to mess with her until they know for sure what's going to happen. I'm not sure which is the better location for her. The prison psychiatric ward may not be as bad as a separate state-run hospital. I hear they can be horrible places.
 
I can understand that, but lets say Andrea were to say she doesnt want to be there, does the state have the right to make her stay, since she has now technically not been convicted of anything?
 
Timex said:
I can understand that, but lets say Andrea were to say she doesnt want to be there, does the state have the right to make her stay, since she has now technically not been convicted of anything?

Yes because she was only tried for a few of the murders. They can hold her pending the decision to try her for the other murders. I think her attorney is a pretty decent guy and knows that she's in the right place - at least for now.
 
yes, I think she is in the right place, Im just wondering how long the state can hold someone if they dont wish to be held in a mental facility. We go through this with my BIL's brother. he is schitzophrenic (sp) and does well when on meds, problem is, they hospitalize him, get him stable, then release him. Once released he feels he no longer needs the meds, and eventually ends up being arrested again on the same type of charges. IMO he is dangerous, and it's just a matter of time till he hurts or kills someone, yet the state cant legally hold him, or so they say.
 
Timex said:
yes, I think she is in the right place, Im just wondering how long the state can hold someone if they dont wish to be held in a mental facility. We go through this with my BIL's brother. he is schitzophrenic (sp) and does well when on meds, problem is, they hospitalize him, get him stable, then release him. Once released he feels he no longer needs the meds, and eventually ends up being arrested again on the same type of charges. IMO he is dangerous, and it's just a matter of time till he hurts or kills someone, yet the state cant legally hold him, or so they say.

That's too bad Timex. Its got to be a very difficult situation. I think in Yates' case, they wouldn't have too much trouble finding a doctor/judge to rule her incapable of making these decisions for herself, even if she were free to leave the prison (hospital) - which at this time isn't the case.
 
I hope, if she is ever let out, that they perform a hysterectomy beforehand.
 
Rebekah is unlikely to ever find herself outside a mental institution again. If she does, shame on the state of Colorado for releasing an insane woman back into society.


She has been given a conditional release! She is now currently residing in Pueblo under a different name she was granted by the courts and lives under yet another name in the social media.

BEWARE!
:panic:
 
She has been given a conditional release! She is now currently residing in Pueblo under a different name she was granted by the courts and lives under yet another name in the social media.

BEWARE!
:panic:

Do you have a link to msm to verify?please.
 

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