HOUSTON – The Third Ward mother accused of drowning her two children in a bathtub and hiding their bodies under her neighbor's house was expected in court Wednesday morning but did not appear.
Sheborah Thomas' attorney, Alvin Nunnery, said she was being evaluated in the mental ward of the jail.
"She is in some kind of catatonic, almost incoherent state right now. What I have ascertained is that she has an extensive history of mental health disease," he said. "She has a previous diagnosis of schizophrenia as well as bipolar disorder. She also is severely, severely depressed."
Nunnery said that in 2014 the 30-year-old mother was prescribed several medications for mental health issues.
He said he doesn't think she was taking her medication when her children were killed.
"All that I'm at liberty to say right now is that she is in the Harris County jail and was not brought over today. But we do expect her next week for her first appearance," Prosecutor Lisa Calligan said.
Thomas is scheduled to return to court next Aug. 25. She will be evaluated to see if she is competent to stand trial, Nunnery said.
Thomas is charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of her 7-year-old son, Araylon, also known as Ray Ray, and her 5-year-old daughter, Kayiana.
Thomas did not appear during her initial hearing Monday afternoon, but prosecutors read the probable cause document in her case.
According to prosecutors, Thomas confessed to an acquaintance that she had killed her children and needed to move. The acquaintance initailly thought she was joking but later determined she was serious. The acquaintance then flagged down a police officer and told him what happened.
During an interview with Houston police, according to prosecutors, Thomas admitted to drawing a bath for her children Friday and then drowning her daughter and her son. She put their bodies in a trash can, police said she admitted..
VIDEO: Probable cause document read in court (may be disturbing to some)
According to prosecutors, Thomas told investigators that the following day she tried bury the bodies, but the hole was not deep enough. She said she then decided to stuff the bodies under her neighbor's house.
Records showed that the children were placed in the custody of their grandmother in 2012 after Kayiana was found wandering the street with a drunken man. At that time, the court ordered Thomas to undergo drug treatment.
According to a spokesman for Child Protective Services, there was an open case involving Thomas at the time the children died. However, he could not speak about details of the case.
Police said officers had previously been called to Thomas' home, but for "nothing major." They said they were not aware of Thomas having a history of mental health problems.
The owners of a Southeast Houston restaurant say Thomas showed up Saturday acting strangely and desperate for her final paycheck of $47.
"I didn't see anything that indicated she did something heinous," Santiago Wesley said.
Wesley and Danielle Malveaux said they hired Sheborah Thomas two months ago to manage their new restaurant, The Little Cajun Kitchen.
But a few weeks ago, Thomas told her bosses the workload was too much.
"She was saying she wanted to spend more time with her kids, so I would ask, 'What time do you need? What days do you want?' and she would never say," Malveaux said.
They decided to part ways, and Thomas showed up at the restaurant Saturday and described her behavior as erratic.
"She was screaming my name, 'Mr. Wesley, Mr. Wesley, I need to talk to you,'" he recalled.
Surveillance footage shows Wesley and Thomas heading outside to talk.
"She was sweating profusely moving back and forth. I was just so alarmed she was so desperate for a small amount of money," he said.
Wesley says he threatened to call the police when Thomas became irate, and she eventually left without the money, which she wasn't due to receive until Monday.