MCKINNEY, Texas, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- A Texas jury Thursday found a Plano mother not guilty by reason of insanity in the drowning deaths of her two daughters.
The seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated more than seven hours over two days in the trial of Lisa Ann Diaz before returning with the verdict, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The focus of the trial was whether Diaz was cable of knowing it was wrong when she drowned her daughters, Briana, 5, and Kamryn, 3, in bathtubs at their home Sept. 25.
Defense attorneys called six mental health experts who testified Diaz suffered from psychotic delusion and thought she was saving her daughters from a terminal illness.
"There is not a doctor in the world that will come in and tell you that Ms. Diaz is not insane," her attorney Robert Udashen said.
Prosecutor Greg Davis said when Diaz told a jailer the night of her arrest, "I'm so ashamed of what I did," she showed that she knew it was wrong to kill.
The jury could have convicted Diaz of capital murder and sentenced her to life in prison. The judge could now order her to a state mental hospital for an evaluation period.
