A mother in Australia is being held by authorities after allegedly killing her young daughter. Jessie Renee Phillips was the only person home when her daughter became unresponsive. Currently, police do not know exactly what happened, but they have a few possibilities. They are still working to establish a motive for Phillips’ alleged crime, but she had reportedly been dealing with mental health issues shortly before her daughter’s death, and there’s a possibility those issues could have been at play. As Phillips sits in police custody waiting for her day in court, the investigation continues, and her community must learn to go on.
Details are still being investigated.
Emergency services were called to the home in Lowood around 11:10 p.m. on May 25, 2026, Queensland Police shared in a news release. They were responding to a report of an unresponsive child. The child was declared dead at the scene.
According to police, two other children were in the home at the time but weren’t injured.
The 31-year-old mother was charged with one count of murder domestic violence against a child.
She was identified as Jessie Renee Phillips, a nurse in Lowood, by 9 News. The dead child was identified as 4-year-old Cleo Catterall.
Phillips was the only adult in the home at the time of Cleo’s death, the outlet reported. Police believe she is responsible for the girl’s death and were investigating the possibility that she drowned.
“I have a team of investigators that are going to conduct an extremely thorough investigation in all the circumstances leading up to what has transpired,” Detective Inspector Michael Manago said.
Manago called the home ‘a terribly confronting scene.’
“I’m not going to get ahead of myself with what the motive, or potential motive, may be. It’s the early days of the investigation,” Manago said, according to the Brisbane Times, per People.
According to the outlet, forensic investigators were seen at the home on May 26. Police minister Dan Purdie called the scene “horrific.”
“It’s tragic for the family, it’s tragic for the community, it’s tragic for the frontline police and emergency services that went there,” he said.
During a news conference, Manago said that a timeline is being established to figure out how long Phillips waited to report her daughter unresponsive.
He also addressed the other two children in the home, saying they were also biologically related to Phillips. The three children, however, have different fathers. Both of the other children are younger than 3.
At the time of the news conference, police didn’t report if the family was known to any authorities, but it appears that they were.
Phillips reportedly had been recently treated for mental health issues.
According to 7News, the treatment happened weeks before her daughter’s death.
“It’s a terribly tragic instance and we need to understand what the causes were and what happened here,” shared Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls.
Per the outlet, there were reports that the family had been on the radar of the Child Safety department. It is unclear in what capacity or if an investigation had taken place.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli extended his condolences to the family, news.com.au reported. “My reaction is one of deep sorrow, and it’s just so deeply troubling, and I want to see a full and thorough investigation,” he said.
Phillips appeared in the Ipswich Magistrates Court on May 26, per news.com.au. No pleas were entered, and the case has been adjourned until June 17. Phillips was remanded into custody.
