AP News, January 22nd, 2008
A woman who said she placed her 2-week-old twins in a bathtub and watched them struggle in the water was charged Monday with homicide after one boy died, according to a criminal complaint.
Alisa Lorraine Evans, 38, who was upset about the recent shooting death of her adult son in Texas, also was charged with the attempted homicide of the other twin, who was expected to survive, records said.
Evans admitted to having trouble breast-feeding the boys Friday and then filling her tub halfway, according to the criminal complaint. She told investigators she put the fraternal twins in on their backs and took them out when they stopped moving.
"She did not attempt to remove them until they became lifeless," the complaint said.
She told police she took David and Josiah Smith, who were born Jan. 4, out of the tub, put them on their sides on the bathroom floor and then put them in separate blankets. Josiah appeared to be coughing, but she doesn't remember David coughing, the complaint said.
Her mother, Joyce Smith, then arrived home, went to the bathroom and asked, "What did you do? What did you do?" to which Evans didn't respond, the complaint said. The grandmother then called 911.
David died at the scene, according to police.
Evans, who was a licensed vocational nurse, told police that she wanted a permanent solution to her problems and "only wanted the children to go to heaven."
She was charged with first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree attempted intentional homicide in Milwaukee County.
The case had not been filed in online records Monday, and no attorney for Evans could be found.
Joyce Smith told police that her daughter was depressed and had said to her on Jan. 10 that she didn't want to live anymore, and talked about "hurting or killing herself."
Smith told police that Evans had been living in Milwaukee for about six months and was separated from her husband, who lived in Waco, Texas.
The complaint said Evans' son Jonathan was shot and died Oct. 31 after two other people struggled with a gun in Waco.
Evans told police that she felt separated from her son, who was supposed to enter college in Texas, where his stepfather lived.
