HOUSTON -- Five children whose mother is accused of drowning them were remembered on 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 eulogize his children.
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 Clear Lake Church of Christ.
Their mother, Andrea Yates, locked away in the Harris County Jail on a charge of capital murder, did not attend the service, which was to be followed by burial in a Houston area cemetery.
Police say Yates, who was suffering from postpartum depression, told them she drowned the children on June 20 in the bathtub of their 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."
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.
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.
