Rusty Yates Has a New Child
It was seven years ago that Yates' wife killed their 5 kids.
HOUSTON, March 30, 2008— -- Russell Yates is a father once again.
It is nearly seven years since his former wife Andrea drowned their five children, Noah, John, Paul, Luke and Mary, in the bathtub of their suburban Houston home on a hot and muggy June day.
Yates married Laura Arnold two years ago, whom he met at the church they both attend, and he confirmed to ABC News that they are now parents of a newborn.
He said that both mother and baby are doing well, though he declined to reveal any more information. He is also a stepfather to Arnold's children from a previous marriage.
Yates stood by his wife Andrea in the days following the deaths of their children, trying to explain how something so horrible could happen.
He talked about her post partum depression and his attempts to help her through her battle with mental illness.
A jury convicted of her of capital murder in her first trial, and then sentenced her to life in prison.
Andrea Yates was tried a second time for capital murder because her conviction was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The court ruled that false testimony by the state's star witness, psychiatrist Park Dietz, influenced the jury's decision to convict Yates.
The jury in that second trial found her not guilty by reason of insanity.
Andrea Yates spends her time in a state mental hospital, where she is receiving treatment for her psychosis. She will face periodic jury trials to determine her mental competency.
Right now her family and her attorneys are happy to have her go to a mental facility, but her attorney George Parnham believes that at some point down the road she may be ready to go back into society.
"Andrea just wants life to go on and is at peace with this and she just wants the best for Rusty and his new wife and the baby," Parnham told ABC News.