Nichole Bradshaw murder: Mum’s chilling texts before allegedly killing daughter
Warning: Graphic content. Melissa Towne has allegedly admitted to brutally murdering her five-year-old daughter Nichole Bradshaw.
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Warning: Graphic content.
The mother accused of slitting her daughter’s throat and strangling her to death in the woods sent a barrage of alarming texts threatening to “illegally” abduct the girl years before the horrific murder.
Melissa Towne, 37, allegedly admitted to taking her daughter Nichole Bradshaw, 5, into Spring Creek Park in Tomball, Texas, on Sunday and cutting her neck with a knife before suffocating her to death, The Sun reports.
Want to stream your news? Flash lets you stream 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >
Towne was arrested later the same day after she drove to a nearby hospital, where an ER nurse looked into her car to see Nichole’s bloodied body wrapped in plastic inside a mesh laundry bag.
The mom-of-four, who allegedly confessed to carrying out the killing in a subsequent police interview, said she decided to kill little Nichole because she believed she was “evil and didn’t want anything to do with her anymore,” according to court documents.
It’s currently unclear why Nichole was in Towne’s care to begin with as she did not have legal custody of the girl.
Nichole’s father, James Bradshaw Jr., had full custody of her since she was a baby.
In a statement, Child Protective Services (CPS) confirmed that Towne “does have a prior history” with the agency but declined to comment further, citing confidentiality laws.
But in court documents obtained by The US Sun, it’s revealed that Towne lost custody of Nichole due to unspecified “mental illnesses.”
The information was shared in an affidavit for her arrest in April 2019, in which Towne was accused of illegally trespassing on Bradshaw Jr.’s parent’s property and later smashing the windshield of his dad’s car.
Bradshaw’s father called the police on April 27 to report that they had found Towne sitting on their front porch the night prior where she started to argue with him “about her two-year-old daughter.”
“The complainant reported that Melissa does not have custody of the child due to mental illnesses,” the affidavit reads.
“The complainant finally persuaded Melissa to leave and opted not to contact law enforcement.”
But the following morning, Bradshaw Sr. entered his driveway to find his vehicle’s windshield smashed. Bradshaw Jr. reported hearing a “loud bang” the night prior when Towne arrived at the home.
In a subsequent interview with police, Towne reportedly refused to meet with investigators because she was “going to jail.”
When asked about the damage to Bradshaw Sr.’s car, she admitted that she struck the windshield with a wrench, the documents state.
She later pleaded guilty to one count of criminal mischief and was ordered to pay $803 in fines.
Alarming texts
A year prior, Towne had been arrested for harassing Kathy Bradshaw, Bradshaw Jr.’s mother, in a slew of text messages that varied from “vulgar to incoherent” in another argument about Nichole in May 2018.
Nichole, who would’ve then been around one, was commonly referred to by Towne as “Chanel” in posts on social media and to friends and colleagues. It’s currently unclear why.
But in her report to the police, Kathy Bradshaw reported receiving a chain of 49 ranting messages from Towne across a four-hour time span that left her feeling concerned for her safety.
The incident began on May 11, 2018, when Kathy said she received a series of “unwanted text messages from Melissa Towne ... covering a gamut of topics, and varying from vulgar to incoherent,” an affidavit reads.
“[An officer] instructed Bradshaw to tell [Towne] to stop contacting [her].”
Kathy complied by texting Towne, writing in all-caps: “DO NOT TEXT OR CALL ME ON THIS NUMBER AGAIN.”
Towne responded “OK B**CH LOL” and continued bombarding her the following day, according to the affidavit, which again made her feel “worried and unsafe.”
One rambling and hard-to-discern message sent by Towne on the morning of May 12, according to court records, read: “Where is Chanel Kathy because y’all really need to either go give her back to the hospital or y’all need to return her back to me.
“You’re not getting the documents you’re not getting the trucks you’re not getting the vehicles this s*** is f****** b******* there’s even a f****** hospital bill my f****** mile-wide between me and she knows y’all won’t be able to afford.
“Just f****** give me the baby back y’all were [sic] f****** lose in court I’m not even joking with you all f****** send you the f****** s*** and a text message give me my daughter back seriously for safety reasons hazardous reasons and some more s***.”
In a second message during her unanswered diatribe, Towne bragged about her IQ to Kathy, writing: “Honestly my IQ doesn’t even hit the charts the only thing I have a little bit of trouble with is freaking spelling.”
Then, just 50 minutes later, Towne appeared to threaten to illegally seize possession of her daughter.
“I am illegally taking possession over Chanel and you need to go get your mental health warrant done and everything you can still see her the bradshaws [sic] can still see her but for now on for the safety and sake of everybody has it [sic] as wise she’s coming back to me.
“Just have him initial it please off of your cell phone and I’ll run it down on his piece of paper that I have the courts [sic] and I’ll have him legally sign the papers in front of me please.”
In total, Towne sent Kathy 49 messages - to none of which she received a reply.
She pleaded guilty to harassment in October 2018 and was sentenced to 45 days in Montgomery County Jail.
Custody confession
How Nichole came to be in the care of Towne at the time of her killing remains a mystery.
It’s also unclear whether Nichole and her father were still living with Kathy and James Bradshaw Sr. The pair were contacted for comment by The U.S. Sun but have not yet responded.
Neighbors who lived near Kathy and Bradshaw Sr.’s home in Magnolia told ABC13 that they all took turns taking care of Nichole when the family needed them to step in.
“He was asking for help, and anytime we could, we would all help,” one neighbour said of James Jr.
“He loved her. He was the best daddy he could be. We all knew something was wrong, and she wanted good for her baby.
“We kept her away, and we didn’t want anything to happen to her, so we tried to do the best we could.
“But I can’t imagine anyone doing that to a child at all, and when you find out it’s someone you know, and especially a sweet little baby, it breaks your heart.”
Paying for justice
Nichole was Bradshaw Jr.’s only child.
The Bradshaw family issued a statement on Monday, asking for privacy as they grieve the “horrible loss” of Nichole’s life and “try to figure out how to go on from here.”
“Nichole has grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and a father that all loved her dearly and never thought such a tragic event would happen to such an innocent child,” reads the statement.
“She will always hold a special place in all of our hearts. We will always remember her as the sweetest little girl who never met a stranger.
“She was so full of love and giggles and her bright blue eyes shined so full of curiosity.
“We are hoping and praying justice will be served and the heartless monster who took our sweet girl away from us pay for the innocent life she took.”
Sickening crime
Melissa Towne reportedly confessed to murdering her daughter on Sunday, hours after the five-year-old’s lifeless body was found in a mesh laundry bag in the back of her car.
According to police, Towne allegedly admitted to leading Nichole into Spring Creek Park and ordering the girl to get down on her knees.
She then is alleged to have pulled out a knife from her bag, as Nichole pleaded with her, screaming: “But I’ve been good.”
Towne attempted to slit her daughter’s throat but the girl survived. She then placed a trash bag over her daughter’s head and suffocated and strangled her for approximately 30 to 45 minutes, court documents state.
From the park, Towne drove to an emergency room in Tomball and asked hospital staff for a wheelchair for her child, telling the nurses that her body was hurting.
An ER nurse walked out to Towne’s Jeep Cherokee and discovered Nichole wrapped in plastic and a bag, according to court documents.
Investigators said she had visible cuts to her neck and doctors pronounced her dead minutes later.
A knife was also found in Towne’s pocket when she was taken into custody, police say.
Towne remains in custody on one charge of capital murder. Her bond has been set at $15 million.
‘Unhinged’ behaviour
A former colleague of Towne’s told The US Sun in an exclusive interview that the mom-of-four was “unhinged” and it was evident that one day she would eventually snap.
“She was unhinged,” said the ex-co-worker, who asked to remain anonymous.
“I worked with her at Denny’s for a few months and nobody liked her because she was so weird.
“She’d go up to her tables and talk to customers in a Minnie Mouse voice like she was at daycare or something.
“These customers would be full-grown adults, like a 60-year-old couple with no kids, and they’d be looking at her so confused like, ‘is she for real?’”
Towne’s strange behaviour apparently earned her the nickname “crazy chick” among many of her fellow workers at the restaurant.
But the source, who worked with Towne from October 2019 until the pandemic hit in early 2020, said she went out of her way to be nice to Towne, believing there may have been something wrong with her.
“I tried to be nice to her because I thought, maybe she hasn’t been socialised properly or something, but she would end up messaging me some of the weirdest s**t,” she said.
“She would message me ‘how you doing?’ and I would be busy or something and not able to reply, but she would just continue on with the conversation by herself like she didn’t know what was going on.
“Melissa was just really weird,” added the source. “It’s like you see some people and think, how are you holding it together?
“We knew she was just going to snap some day ... she was freakin’ delusional, so I’m not shocked [at what happened], sadly.”
‘My heart is broken’
Towne’s ex-colleague said she has been left heartbroken over the news of Nichole’s death.
During their time working together, the source said Towne often spoke lovingly of her children, expressing pride about “beautiful all four of her children were, and she was very proud that they were all healthy.”
But the source said the system and local authorities have failed Nichole and everybody else, insisting that for not one second should Towne have been allowed to be alone with any of her children.
“Whoever was supposed to be attending to Melissa failed, child services failed, the doctors failed, and the mental health system failed,” she said.
“That child was not only a victim of Melissa and her range of mental health issues but the system, in general, has failed her - and the system has failed all the rest of us too.
“It hurts my heart,” she added.
“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.”
This story was published by The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
Originally published as Nichole Bradshaw murder: Mum’s chilling texts before allegedly killing daughter
Pope Francis admitted to hospital in Rome
The 88-year-old has been breathless in recent days while giving his speeches and on several occasions been forced to delegate officials to read on his behalf.
TikTok returns after going dark in the US
Roughly 170 million users in the US are set to jump back online after Apple and Google restored the popular video sharing platform to its app stores.