PASCO — A woman on lifetime probation for throwing her two children off a bridge in 1979 is back in custody after she refused to take her medication.
Tanya Adams, 61, was booked into the Franklin County jail on March 24 and has a court appearance on April 7, according to the Tri-City Herald. She’s being held on a $2,500 bond.
Adams was an unemployed waitress with two young sons when her marriage collapsed and she became depressed in 1979. Believing she and her husband were evil and fearing their sins would condemn Ryan, 2 1/2 and Christopher, 1 1/2, to hell, she killed them so they would go to heaven, the newspaper said. She threw them from the cable bridge between Pasco and Kennewick into the Columbia River.
Adams turned herself into the police and was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury rejected that plea and found her guilty but Franklin County Judge Al Yencopal ignored the prosecution’s recommendation of life in prison. In addition to the lifetime probation, Adams was ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment for five years after her release from the hospital.
Adams reportedly did well on supervision until 2007, when she told a community corrections officer that she “was having extreme difficulty coping with life,” had financial problems and did not want to return to her Shoreline home or her job. She entered the psychiatric unit at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center for several weeks.
The court reminded Adams in 2007 that a condition of her sentence was her compliance with mental health treatment, including taking prescribed medications.
Then between Jan. 26 and Feb. 17, Community Corrections Officer John Lyles received calls from Adams’ relatives saying her behavior had become erratic. They feared she was a risk to herself and her 88-year-old mother.
Paramedics who took Adams to the emergency room told Lyles “her living conditions were not acceptable for human habitation.” She was involuntarily committed to a hospital for a mental health evaluation until she could be moved to a psychiatric ward, Lyles’ report said. He told the court that his department has tried several interventions in the past few months.
After she was committed, Adams’ mental health declined further. Lyles recommended the court issue a warrant so Adams could be arrested and transferred to the Franklin County jail to address the violations.
He said the court should sanction her with a two-month jail sentence, and not release Adams until she is no longer considered a threat to herself or others.
She was booked into the jail on March 24.
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