Fort Worth woman accused of slaying daughter heard voices, ex-boyfriend says
When Christopher Busby spoke to his former girlfriend two weeks ago, she seemed fine, but she’s been known to hear voices and has a history of mental illness, he said.
Busby’s ex-girlfriend, Krystal Lewandowski, told Fort Worth police Monday that she slit her 4-year-old daughter’s throat to save her from something worse happening to her, according to an arrest warrant.
Lewandowski, 34, called 911 about 11:40 a.m. Monday from her home in the 2100 block of Hurley Avenue and told the dispatcher that her daughter, Czara, was missing, according to the warrant.
She started giving the dispatcher information about her daughter’s age, height and physical description. The dispatcher asked Krystal Lewandowski where she had last seen Czara Lewandowski, and she said in the back yard.
Later, Lewandowski said to the dispatcher that she had been told to slit her daughter’s throat.
The dispatcher asked where Czara was, and Lewandowski said she had wrapped the girl up and put her in a trash can in the back yard.
Busby said he shared two children with Lewandowski and lived in the same household with her for eight years, but left her 12 years ago after he was unable to get any help for her mental illness. Busby was not Czara’s father, and had no knowledge of the man who was, he said.
Lewandowski suffers from an unspecified mental illness and her mental illness was the reason why they split up, Busby said.
“Krystal hears voices,” Busby said.
He said he was able to get custody of his two children nearly a decade ago and since then the only dealings he has had with Lewandowski has been to talk about their children.
“I told her that I just couldn’t do this anymore,” Busby said. “I dealt with it for a long time. I think she was getting some help with her mental illness, but then something went wrong. I’m not sure what.”
After Lewandowski called police, an officer went to the house in the Fairmount area and found the little girl inside a trash can in the back yard. A Fort Worth Fire Department lieutenant pronounced the girl dead at 11:51 a.m. Monday, the warrant said.
Lewandowski told police several times that someone told her to kill her daughter and that something worse would happen to her if she did not. She told police she had killed Czara on Sunday night.
At one point, according to the warrant, Lewandowski said, “OK, maybe I should just tell you now. OK, so last night I was advised to slit her throat.”
Her son, who police said is 18 months old, was also in the house.
Czara’s brother is in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, according to Tiffani Butler, DFPS spokeswoman. Lewandowski’s two children who lived in the house with her have not previously been in foster care, a DFPS statement said.
Lewandowski is being held in the Tarrant County Jail and is facing a charge of capital murder of a person under 10 years old, according to jail records. Bond has been set at $750,000, jail records show.
