Grim details of a mum's terrible mental state have been revealed after she allegedly killed her five-year-old daughter with an ex-colleague saying "we knew she'd snap one day".
Towne, 37, was arrested after her daughter's body was found partially wrapped in plastic and mesh bags in the passenger seat of a car.
The mum told police she killed her daughter, Nichole Bradshaw, in the woods and admitted she "didn't want to deal with her anymore".
As investigations continue, further details about Towne's past have been uncovered including that she previously lost custody of her other children because of mental health issues.
A former co-worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told The US Sun : "Melissa was just really weird. It's like you see some people and think, how are you holding it together?
"We knew she was just going to snap someday ... she was freakin' delusional, so I'm not shocked [at what happened], sadly."
On Sunday October 16 at around midday Towne drove to the emergency room at Tomball Hospital, Texas.
According to a police report, she then asked staff there for a wheel chair because "her daughter's body was hurting".
When a nurse walked to Towne's Jeep Cherokee she found Nichole unresponsive wrapped in plastic and mesh bags.
The child had a visible cut to her neck and was pronounced dead ten minutes later.
Towne was arrested and told police she killed her daughter at Spring Creek Park before driving to the hospital.
The ex-colleague who worked with Towne from October 2019 until the pandemic hit in early 2020, continued: "She was always on the edge.
"One time she grabbed my arm and wrist because she was stressed out by some customers.
"She grabbed me so hard, I had to tell her she was squeezing too much.
"It really hurt, but thankfully I was eventually able to yank my arm away and calm her down."
During the months they worked together the ex-coworker claimed Towne told her that she suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and would "often see and hear things that weren't there."
Legal records show that Towne had lost custody of at least one of her four children because of "mental health issues."
Left heartbroken by the news of the girl's death, the former colleague was left wondering how Nichole had been left in her clearly unwell mum's care.
She said: "Whoever was supposed to be attending to Melissa failed, child services failed, the doctors failed, and the mental health system failed. "
She added: "It hurts my heart.
"I always had faith in Melissa that once she gets on the proper medication ... she's going to be a great person.
"I don't know if they weren't giving her the right medicine, or if she wasn't taking it, but I feel bad for the rest of [Nichole's] family.
"But they shouldn't have left that girl alone with Melissa."
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said: "Towne admitted to killing her daughter. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office accepted a charge of Capital Murder against Melissa Towne and she was booked into the Harris County Jail."
Court documents claim Towne drove the child to a wooded park where she slit her throat.
When it didn't kill her, she tried to suffocate her by putting a plastic bag over her head and also strangled her.
Heartbreakingly Towne also told detectives that the girl had pleaded with her mum saying "but I've been good" as she was being strangled.
Towne told Nichole not to "fight her" and has now been charged with murder.
She also has three other children aged between two and 18 who are all "safe and accounted for'".
