Texas woman says God told her to kill sons.
Tyler, Texas -- Whether authorities will seek the death penalty against a Texas woman accused of beating to death two of her three young sons has not been decided, according to the district attorney who will try the case.
Smith County D.A. Jack Skeen said he wants to wait until all the evidence is gathered before making that decision in the capital murder case of Deanna LaJune Laney, 38.
Smith said Laney's 8- and 6-year-old sons, who died, were "severely beaten in the head with what appeared to be a rock." He said Laney told authorities that God told her to kill her children.
Sheriff: Laney told 911 dispatcher 'I've killed my boys'
After the killings, Laney made a 911 call on her cellular phone and spoke in a "very calm, matter-of-fact way." She told a dispatcher, "I've killed my boys," Smith said.
When officers arrived, they entered the house and found Aaron in his crib, wounded but still breathing. Laney was not there but continued to talk calmly on the phone, Smith said.
Officers found the woman, wearing bloody clothes, in a wooded area about 100 yards behind her house, the sheriff said.
Laney described where her other two children could be found but refused to go there herself, he said.
Her husband was apparently asleep inside the house during the attack because he came walking out "in his nightclothes," the sheriff said.
The recording of the 911 call is in the hands of the district attorney, who said he doesn't plan to release it publicly.
God Tells Woman To Murder Sons
Dec 19 2006, 11:43 PM
