HOUSTON (AP) — A woman accused by authorities of killing her 5-year-old daughter close to a suburban Houston park as a result of she…
HOUSTON (AP) — A woman accused by authorities of killing her 5-year-old daughter close to a suburban Houston park as a result of she thought the woman was an “evil child” has a historical past of psychological sickness, her lawyer mentioned Tuesday.
Melissa Towne has been charged with capital homicide within the dying of her daughter Nichole and was being held on a $15 million bond. She appeared in court docket on Tuesday, crying throughout a short listening to.
Towne’s court-appointed lawyer, James Stafford, advised reporters after the listening to she has been identified as a schizophrenic and has been institutionalized a minimum of 9 occasions because of psychological sickness.
“There’s no doubt there’s some dark demons haunting her,” Stafford mentioned.
Authorities allege Towne took the woman to a wooded space close to a park within the Houston suburb of Tomball on Sunday, made her get on her knees and reduce her throat with a knife. The woman started to scream and battle earlier than Towne positioned a trash bag over her head, in line with a possible trigger affidavit.
Towne is accused of strangling her daughter for 30 to 45 minutes. Towne “stated she wanted to end (her daughter’s) life because she was an evil child and did not want to deal with her anymore,” in line with the affidavit.
Authorities allege Towne then took her daughter’s physique to a hospital in Tomball, the place a nurse discovered the woman inside a laundry mesh bag on the floorboard of the passenger facet of Towne’s SUV.
Child Protective Services mentioned in a press release it was additionally investigating the kid’s dying and that Towne had a previous historical past with the company however couldn’t present further particulars because of confidentiality guidelines. The company mentioned Towne has three different youngsters, ranging in age from 2 to 18 years previous, who’re secure and had been residing with different relations.
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