TYLER, Texas, March 29 (UPI) -- The trial of a Texas mother charged with stoning her two sons to death and injuring a third opened Monday with the prosecution presenting gruesome details.
In opening statements at the trial in the East Texas town of Tyler, the prosecutor described how Deanna Laney, 39, smashed the head of her infant son with a rock.
The prosecutor said she then led her two older boys outside and did the same to them, killing them both, CNN reported.
Laney's lawyer said she believed God told her the world was going to end and she had to get her house in order, which included killing her children.
Laney is charged in the deaths of Joshua, 8, and Luke, 6. She is also charged with a single count of injury to Aaron, her 15-month-old son who survived the attack on Mother's Day on May 9, 2003 with critical injuries.
During testimony Monday, a 911 operator identified the tape of Laney's dispassionate call saying she had killed her boys.
Laney, who sat with her head bowed and crying softly, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
