NJ mom who drowned her 2 kids to root out ‘all the evil in the world’ found not guilty by reason of insanity

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A New Jersey woman who drowned her toddlers last year to eliminate “all the evil in the world” — citing “religious reasons” — was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Naomi Elkins, 27, was charged with killing her daughters, ages 1 and 3, after she drowned them in her bathtub at her home in Lakewood, New Jersey, on June 25.

Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan ruled last week that Elkins did kill her children, but was not guilty by reason of insanity, the Ashbury Park Press reported. The judge ordered Elkins to be committed to a secure psychiatric hospital for two lifetimes — one for each child she killed.

This means she was sentenced to a total of 150 years in a psychiatric hospital, as each life term of commitment equates to 75 years under state law.

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Naomi Elkins was found not guilty by reason of insanity. (Ocean County Jail)

Elkins had admitted to police that she drowned each of her children in separate bathtubs for “religious reasons.”

She first stabbed the younger child in the stomach but was not convinced that it would kill her, so she put the child in a bathtub and held her underwater for two to three minutes, telling police she counted to 50 several times to ensure she held her underwater for “enough time,” according to a criminal complaint.

Her other daughter observed what happened and ran away to hide, the judge said. But Elkins grabbed her and put her in the bathtub in a second bathroom, climbed on top of her and held her down while the bathtub filled up.

Elkins then called first responders to report that she had hurt her daughters. Both children were pronounced dead at the scene.

Psychologist Gianni Pirelli testified in court that Elkins was “undoubtedly psychotic” and that the woman believed that either she or her husband was the Messiah, the Ashbury Park Press reported. Pirelli said Elkins was described as “emotionless” after the incident and that her statements included similar “religious themes.”

“She thought that if she destroyed her children, she would be destroying all the evil in the world,” Pirelli said.

The judge ordered Naomi Elkins to be committed to a secure psychiatric hospital for two lifetimes. (iStock)

Elkins’ husband had left town on a business trip the day before the killings.

Pirelli said Elkins has struggled with mental illness since at least 2018 and suffered postpartum psychosis after the births of her two children. The woman’s mental health never stabilized, Pirelli said.

After her second pregnancy, Elkins began to believe that she was “either a descendant of Hitler or evil entities, this idea of her being evil, this self-loathing or idea that she needed to repent,” Pirelli said.

Following her confession, Elkins was allowed to write a letter, which “reads as if it’s a letter to God,” Pirelli said. 

“I thought I loved you, God, my creator,” Elkins wrote in the letter.

“You are evil. I’m deserving of death and destruction. I don’t know what I was. I loved my children, but I loved you more,” the letter continues.

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“She thought that if she destroyed her children, she would be destroying all the evil in the world,” psychologist Gianni Pirelli testified. (iStock)

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The letter adds: “I put me before my kids. How could a Jewish mother do that? How? How is it possible?”

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said his office could not dispute the determination that Elkins was legally insane when she killed her children.

“Based on our review of the facts and circumstances, in combination with the expert psychiatric report and testimony, the State agrees with this finding,” Billhimer said. “It’s not even a close call.”

Elkins’ mental health will be evaluated periodically by the court, and she will remain in a psychiatric institution unless she reaches a point when she is no longer considered a danger to herself or others, Defense attorney Mitchell Ansell said.