HOUSTON (AP) — A woman accused by authorities of killing her 5-year-old daughter near a suburban Houston park because she thought the girl was an “evil child” has a history of mental illness, her attorney said Tuesday.
Melissa Towne, 37, has been charged with capital murder in the death of her daughter Nichole and was being held on a $15 million bond. She appeared in court on Tuesday, crying during a brief hearing.
Towne’s court-appointed attorney, James Stafford, told reporters after the hearing she has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic and has been institutionalized at least nine times due to mental illness.
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