A New Jersey mother who drowned her two young daughters last year for what she described as “religious purposes” tied to a cleansing of the world was found not guilty by reason of insanity last week.
Naomi Elkins, 27, was charged with murdering her daughters, ages 1 and 3, after she drowned them in a bathtub at their home in Lakewood, New Jersey on June 25.
Superior Court Judge Guy Ryan ruled that while Elkins did kill her daughters, she was not guilty by reason of insanity. He ordered the deranged mother to serve two lifetime sentences — 150 years total under New Jersey law — in a secure psychiatric hospital, the Ashbury Park Press reported.
Elkins previously admitted to the murders — telling police she “counted to 50 multiple times to ensure she held them underwater for enough time” — and claimed she did it for “religious purposes,” a criminal complaint said.
She was “undoubtedly psychotic” and believed that either she or her husband was the Messiah incarnate, psychologist Gianni Pirelli testified in court, according to the local New Jersey outlet.
“She thought that if she destroyed her children, she would be destroying all the evil in the world,” Pirelli said.
Alternatively, Elkins also expressed beliefs that she was “a descendant of Hitler or evil entities,” he noted. He said much of her mental health issues were tied to the postpartum psychosis she suffered after having her two children.
Last June, the sick mom picked up her children from a Giggles Daycare, where she also worked, and stabbed her youngest in the stomach before drowning her in the bathtub, prosecutors said. Her 3-year-old started screaming when she saw what was happening and ran to the second bathroom to hide.
Elkins chased her and started a second bath in that bathroom. She drowned the young girl, then called Hatzolah Medical Services, saying that she hurt her children, according to police and prosecutors.
Both children were pronounced dead on the scene.
A letter police had Elkins write addressed to her children read “more as a letter to God,” Pirelli said.
In the letter, she directly mentioned killing her children. It was collected as evidence.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer didn’t dispute Elkins’ determined insanity.
Elkins’ mental health will be evaluated periodically by the court. She will stay in a psychiatric institution for the rest of her life unless she, at some point, is no longer considered a danger to herself or others, defense attorney Mitchell Ansell said.
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