Yates's brother, Brian Kennedy, told Larry King on a broadcast of CNN's "Larry King Live" that Rusty expressed to him in 2001, while transporting her to Devereux treatment facility, that all depressed people needed was a “swift kick in the pants” to get them motivated. Her mother, Jutta Kennedy, expressed shock when she heard of Rusty's plan while at the gathering with them, saying Yates wasn't stable enough to care for the children. She noted that Yates demonstrated she wasn't in her right mind when she nearly choked Mary by trying to feed her solid food.