Mom behind drowning previously diagnosed with mental illness

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Sheborah Thomas is in a jail cell, but her lawyer says her mind is not. It is far away.

"I'm not a medical professional, but she is in a catatonic almost incoherent state right now. What I understand is that she has an extensive history of mental health disease."  said attorney Alvin Nunnery.

He says Thomas is in isolation and undergoing a mental evaluation.

According to police, last Friday she picked up her kids from day care, took them home and fed them. Then she methodically drowned them. First she hid them in a garbage can. After a failed attempt to bury them, she hid them under a neighbor's house.

She confessed her crime, casually first to an acquaintance and then formally to police.

There has been a lot of speculation about whether or not Thomas is mentally ill. Her family says no, her boss said she seemed normal, but many doubted it. Now the doubters have evidence she is.

Nunnery says in 2012, the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority diagnosed her as being bipolar and schizophrenic. and has been treated since then.

"I certainly know in 2014 she was prescribed a number of pills for those conditions and I am certain that she was not on them at the time of the offense." Said Assistant District Attorney Lisa Calligan.

She's charged with capital murder, at least for now.

"Obviously this is a critical case where you have the death of two children. We are going to take into account and information provided by the defense and that any information that we discover. We will make a decision after we have all the facts."  said  Nunnery.