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A mother has been charged with killing her five-year-old daughter near a park because she believed the girl was “evil” and had a history of mental illness, her lawyer said.
Melissa Towne, 37, was charged with murder following the death of her daughter Nichole and was released on $15m (£13.3m) bail.
She appeared in court on Tuesday, crying during the brief hearing.
Towne’s court-appointed lawyer, James Stafford, told reporters after the hearing that she had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had been housed at least nine times for mental illness.
“There is no doubt that there are some dark demons that haunt her,” he said.
Towne is accused of taking the girl to a wooded area near a park in the Houston suburb of Tomball on Sunday.
She then allegedly made her kneel before slitting her throat with a knife.
According to reports, the girl screamed and fought before Toun put a garbage bag on her head.
The document added that Towne was accused of strangling her daughter for 30 to 45 minutes and said she “wanted to end (her daughter’s) life because she was an evil child and didn’t want to deal with her anymore”.
The woman then allegedly took her daughter’s body to a hospital in Tombor, where a nurse found the girl in a mesh laundry bag on the passenger side floor of Toun’s car.
In a statement, Child Protective Services said it was also investigating Nicole’s death, with which Towne had dealings – although it could not provide further details due to confidentiality rules.
Towne has three other children aged 2 to 18 who are safe and have been living with other relatives, the agency said.
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