A Mount Joy woman who killed her two young sons in 2004 has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Meghan Lippiatt, 32, smiled when Judge James P. Cullen announced his verdict late this morning in Lancaster County Court.

Her mother, sitting behind her, burst into tears.

The verdict means Lippiatt avoids prison and the potential for the death penalty and will instead be treated at a psychiatric facility to be determined later.

Lippiatt's defense attorney, James Gratton, said it was the proper decision.

"The whole thing is tragedy," Gratton said. "This is the best verdict you could have under these tragic circumstances."

Lippiatt's father, John Kelleher, described the verdict as "a victory for awareness of mental health issues, which is the only good outcome from this tragedy."

"There is a greater awareness of people in general and the courts and the medical community," Kelleher said.

Assistant District Attorney Kelly Sekula said Lippiatt will be returned to Lancaster County Prison pending a hearing to determine her future treatment.

"It was a tough case," she said. "Judge Cullen had a very difficult decision to make."

Lippiatt killed her two children, 4-month-old Myles and 2-year-old Silas, on April 18, 2004. The killings took place at her parents' Iron Bridge Road home, where the young woman and her sons lived.

She first suffocated the younger child with a diaper, then placed the elder son in a tub of warm water and drowned him.

Lippiatt's non-jury trial lasted three days and wrapped up Friday afternoon with closing arguments.

The prosecution was seeking a verdict of first-degree murder with possibly the death penalty. Her defense attorneys were seeking the verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Her defense team, which also included Merrill Spahn, argued successfully that she was suffering from schizoaffective disorder and didn't know the difference between right and wrong when she killed the children.

"She was mentally ill to the extent that she did not know it was wrong to kill her kids," Gratton said.

Sekula portrayed Lippiatt as manipulative, suggesting she faked her symptoms to get out of jail and into mental institutions. During the trial, she repeatedly referred to Lippiatt's 911 call on April 18, 2004, just after killing her children.

Lippiatt told a dispatcher, "I did something really, really bad," showing that she did know what she did was wrong, Sekula suggested. Lippiatt told psychiatrists that she heard the voice of God telling her to kill her children because they were suffering.

Lippiatt's fate rested on the narrow distinction between knowing that what she had done was bad — as she admitted in her 911 call — and whether she also knew that killing her children was wrong in the eyes of the law.

Cullen, by his decision, concluded she was mentally ill to the point of not knowing it was wrong.

Lippiatt, who has been moved back and forth between Lancaster County Prison and Norristown State Hospital since the boys' deaths, will most likely be sent to Wernersville Hospital for future treatment, Gratton said.

CONTACT US: jkelley@LNPnews.com or 481-6026