Texas woman slit 4-year-old daughter's throat and dumped her body in trash can to 'save her' from worse fate
FORT WORTH, TEXAS: A Texas mother has been arrested and charged after she fatally stabbed her young daughter to "save her" and then dumped her body in a trash can. The horrific killing first came to light at around 11:40 am on Monday, August 24, after Krystal Lewandowski dialed 911 from her home on the 2100 Block of Hurley Avenue to report her four-year-old daughter Czara Lewandowski missing, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Lewandowski went on to give the dispatcher information about her daughter's age, height, and physical description and revealed she had last seen the young girl in their back yard. Then, at one point, without any prompting, the mother said, "OK, maybe I should just tell you now. OK, so last night I was advised to slit her throat."
The dispatcher asked Lewandowski where Czara was and the mother admitted she had wrapped the girl up and put her in a trash can in the back yard. An officer arrived at the home in the Fairmont area to verify the claims and found the four-year-old in a trash can as Lewandowski had said. A Fort Worth Fire Department lieutenant pronounced her dead at 11:51 am the same morning. When questioned why she had killed Czara, Lewandowski said she had slit her daughter's throat to save her from something worse happening to her, according to an arrest warrant issued in her name. She told investigators several times that someone told her to kill the four-year-old and that it would be bad for the girl if she did not.
The mom was arrested after she confessed she killed Czara on Sunday, August 23. Detectives with the Crimes Against Children Unit were at the scene and are taking the lead in the investigation, Fort Worth police confirmed. Lewandowski's son, who police said is 18-months-old, was also at the home at the time of the murder but was reportedly unhurt. Tiffani Butler, a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said they had previous history with the family from around a year ago but declined to provide any further details. She said the department did not have legal custody of the victim's toddler brother but were making sure he was okay.
Angela Allen, who lives a few doors down from the home, said she didn't know the family personally but often saw Lewandowski walking down the street with her children. "It is very tragic," she said. "You don't ever want to see something like that happen, especially to a child that young."
Lewandowski is currently being held on a $750,000 bond and is facing capital murder charges in her daughter's death, with authorities involved in the case suggesting its disturbing nature had taken a toll on them.
"It is very hard," said Fort Worth Officer Buddy Calzada. "I talked to one of the officers on the scene. We have to make sure our officers are okay. We have a child that has been murdered. The reality of it is this is a very sad case. Us as police, we don't get to dial 911.”