"We were like two peas in a pod" - Mansfield woman accused of murder says describing relationship with daughter

Katie Crowder, 26, of Wharmby Avenue, denied killing her daughter Gracie on March 6 this year and then waiting for an hour before going to her parents house two doors down to raise the alarm.

In recordings and transcripts of interviews with detectives from the Major Crime Unit, held at Mansfield Police Station the following day, Crowder claimed she had been cleaning up dog urine and filling up the washing machine when the toddler tipped a mop bucket over herself, causing 65 per cent burns to her body.

In the interviews, Crowder said: “ I could see the water on the floor. The bucket was tipped over. I could see the water on the floor. She seemed a bit wet but warm. She had this mark on her face and her lips were shut. I held her in my arms and ran round to my dad's. She was hot. She was as hot as hell.

"The water was covering my toes. I picked the bucket up and it was empty. It was light. There were just some dribs and drabs in it.

"She was too hot to even cover her. Her hair was wet, it was dripping off her. She was wet but she wasn't sodden. It was like she'd just got out of the bath. Her body wasn't stiff but her lips wouldn't open much. I was more panicking. Her eyes were already closed. She still felt like Gracie."

Later in the interviews, Crowder described her own mental health issues and her relationship with her daughter.

In interview, Crowder states: "Gracie was the one that kept me going. I kept having visions about hurting someone - not Gracie, I would never hurt her. I kept thinking about stabbing someone. I was like unpredictable with myself, not with Gracie. I love her to bits. She was a little s***, the class clown. We were like two peas in a pod.”

She also denied taking cocaine the night before Gracie died.

Crowder denies murder.

The trial continues.

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