A father accused of killing his infant daughter by throwing her into a river in 2018 claims voices told him to do it. The man allegedly tossed the baby into the Jack Evans Boat Harbour in Tweed Heads, near the New South Wales and Queensland border, where she drowned. The baby's body washed onto the beach nearly 19 miles away.
The Daily Mail reported that police approached the father, the baby's mother, and another child hours before the infant's tragic death. The family had allegedly slept in a park, and the children were reportedly only wearing diapers. Now, many wonder how the tragedy occurred and why police didn't protect the children.
More from CafeMom: Houston Father Allegedly Killed His Toddler Daughter While Her Mother Watched on FaceTime
The father allegedly had a mental illness.
According to court records, the father reportedly battled schizophrenia and alcohol dependency and had auditory hallucinations in the past. Attorney Donna Ward said the father claimed to hear voices the day of his daughter's death.
Per the Daily Mail, the voices told the father to kidnap and drown a baby and he hallucinated about Jesus and Britney Spears. The court is reportedly still trying to determine whether Baby Q died from drowning or whether her father suffocated her as he walked her to the river.
The baby's mother was also allegedly mentally ill.
Ward reportedly told the court the mother also suffered from hallucinations "of a religious bent" and suffered from mood disturbance, manic episodes, and delusions. She told crisis case workers she moved to New South Wales because of domestic violence but reportedly rebuked the claim later.
The father reportedly acted strangely the day the baby died.
Hours before Baby Q died, police apparently tried to help the family and move them into accommodations, but they allegedly returned to Tweed Heads hours later. Ward claimed witnesses said the father tried to give the baby away at least twice in the hours leading up to her death.
According to Ward, the father was not taking his antipsychotic medications at the time.
The children were seemingly helpless.
The young children were solely dependent on their parents, and police as well as welfare agencies reportedly tried to help the family, but it was too late. Ward admitted that "none of them were malicious in the things they did or didn't do," the *Daily Mail *reported.
She added that the family had a "constellation of risk factors" contributing to their demise. She then asked whether the number of incidents involving the family should have "raised alarm bells."
More from CafeMom: Baby Dies in Freak Accident When Dad Collapses on Him After Being Shot & Killed
A court reportedly found the father not guilty by reason of mental illness.
The father was deemed not guilty because of mental illness in the New South Wales Supreme Court, the Daily Mail reported. The mother was initially charged with failing to provide for her child and causing danger but was eventually discharged under the Mental Health Act.
Ward said the inquiry is meant to honor the "loved" and "valued" Baby Q.
"Your honour's inquiry is an attempt to understand what went wrong here and an attempt to understand what we can do better," she said, per the Daily Mail.
