A New Jersey mom who killed her two children by drowning them has been found not guilty by reason of insanity, according to reports.
Twenty-seven year old Naomi Elkins killed both of her children — only one and three years old — on June 25, 2025, drowning them both in bathtubs. She bizarrely believed her action would help eradicate all evil in the world.
Psychologist Gianni Pirelli testified Elkins was “undoubtedly psychotic,” believing the coming Messiah was her husband or herself. Her husband had left for a business trip the day before the tragedies.
“She thought that if she destroyed her children, she would be destroying all the evil in the world,” Pirelli said.
According to reports, Elkins stabbed one of her children in the stomach and then put her in a bathtub, holding her underwater for a few minutes. The other child ran and hid in fear, but Elkins “climbed on top of her and held her down while the bathtub filled up,” according to the judge. She then called first responders, believing her older child may have still been alive.
First responders described her as “emotionless.”
Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan ultimately determined Elkins indeed killed both of her children, but she is not guilty for reasons of insanity. As such, Elkins has been ordered to remain in a “secure psychiatric hospital for two lifetimes – one for each child she killed,” according to the Asbury Park Press, which notes that each lifetime is the equivalent of 75 years.
More via the Asbury Park Press:
Pirelli said Elkins needs “intensive in-patient treatment at a secure facility.”
Michael Weatherstone, executive assistant Ocean County prosecutor, and Kristin Pressman, chief trial attorney in the prosecutor’s office, did not dispute Pirelli’s conclusions.
In other words, the sentence is far beyond Elkin’s survivable years.
“Based on our review of the facts and circumstances, in combination with the expert psychiatric report and testimony, the State agrees with this finding,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. “It’s not even a close call.
