Texas woman accused of killing daughter she called ‘evil’

HOUSTON (AP) — An attorney for 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” says she has a history of mental illness. Thirty-seven-year-old Melissa Towne is charged with capital murder in the death of her daughter Nichole. She’s being held on a $15 million bond and appeared in court Tuesday (Oct. 18, 2022). Towne’s court-appointed attorney, James Stafford, told reporters she’s been diagnosed as a schizophrenic and has been institutionalized at least nine times due to mental illness. Authorities allege Towne took her daughter to a wooded area near a park in the Houston suburb of Tomball on Sunday, initially tried to kill her by cutting her throat and then strangled her.