KING COUNTY, Wash. -- Two public defenders have stepped down as attorneys for Michele Anderson, who is accused of murdering six members of her family on Christmas Eve.

Anderson has admitted she and her then-boyfriend Joseph McEnroe shot and killed her parents, Wayne and Judy Anderson; her brother, Scott; his wife, Erica; and their children, 5-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan.

On Monday public defenders Cindy Arends and Kevin Dolan said they no longer wished to act as Anderson's attorneys. Calling Anderson mentally ill, the two said they did not want to participate in her suicide mission to receive the death penalty.

"It is illegal for you to help somebody commit suicide. Why does it suddenly become legal when some mentally-ill person says, 'well, I want the state to kill me' when I don't believe that that's the right thing to do?" said Dolan.

The judge allowed Arends and Dolan to step down, but did not allow Anderson's hand-picked attorney to take over the case. It will now be up to the public defender's office to appoint a new defender for Anderson's case.

At Monday's hearing, Anderson made sure she was heard. She interrupted Dolan several times in order to tell the judge her defenders, in an attempt to get her a life sentence instead of the death penalty, was submitting partially false information.

In past interviews with KOMO News, Anderson has maintained she's seeking the death penalty because "I ruined everybody's lives" and "I shouldn't be allowed to live after doing that.

"I didn't understand the value of life until I took it from other people. Even when you're in a horrible environment like jail or prison, life is still the greatest gift ever. It's the most important thing, the most valuable thing in the world." she said.

Anderson also insisted she is not mentally ill, and that she was well-aware that what she was doing was wrong.

A prosecutor will decide in August whether to seek a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty in Anderson's case.