On the weekend a young mother walked out the front door of her Sydney home, allegedly leaving her lifeless little girl behind.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
She had drowned her two-year-old daughter, police allege, leaving her face down in the bathtub of their Miller home.
The mother, who grew up on the northern beaches, headed towards the Blue Mountains, some 90km away.
The 27-year-old crashed twice along the way before police caught up with her on a roadside at Katoomba.
When officers found her she was sitting on the road, next to her crumpled car, dazed and reading the Bible, it will be alleged.
Taken to a Blue Mountains hospital on Sunday, the young mother stayed there while the tragedy she allegedly left behind at home remained undiscovered.
It was two days before the child's absence was noted and her tragic death was uncovered.
Questions are likely to be asked about whether the mother, who has since been charged with murder, should have had care of the two-year-old girl given her chequered history with the Department of Family and Community Services.
If her social media presence is anything to go by, this has played out on a background of relationship struggles and the pain of losing her children.
"You took away my motherhood, you take away my freedom, so now I say enough is enough and still you need a reason," she wrote in 2012.
"...why should I have to suffer even more than I have, just to be tied down to your jealous ways."
Months earlier she wrote: "Decisions I make now may seem wrong to others but all I'm trying to do is create a better future for me n my lil family. Focusing on studying to gain a career n eventually have my kids living with their mumma."
Fairfax Media understands two children were removed from the mother's care a few years ago.
The two-year-old's death on Tuesday was discovered after a family friend visited the Miller home, concerned that she hadn't seen the mother and child for days.
The family friend paced between neighbouring houses on Merino Street, asking residents if they had seen anyone at the house coming and going.
"She knocked on my door and asked me if I had seen them and I said I hadn't seem in a while," Patricia Ingram told the ABC.
"She said [the girl's mother] had an accident ... up at the Mountains ... I presume it must have been on Sunday ... she said [the mother and the boyfriend] had a big fight and broke up on Friday."
The mother's case was adjourned to Campbelltown Local Court on November 9.
