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Woman found cradling dead daughter after killing her to spite ex

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 After she had crashed the car, Lisa was found in the boot cradling her dead child [Photo: surreynowleader]

Their marriage may have ended badly, but something special came out of Lisa and Gabe Batstone’s failed relationship: their daughter, Teagan.

A little girl with a gentle smile, she embraced everything that came her way.

She loved gymnastics, tennis, running and especially animals.

Lisa and Gabe split in 2008, when Teagan was just two years old and divorced two years later.

Lisa, 41, had struggled to cope with the break-up and adjusting to her new life as a single mum.

When she and Gabe tried to sort out the custody arrangements, tensions always ran high.

Lisa was granted custody of Teagan, but Gabe wanted to be involved in his daughter’s life as much as possible.

To help improve their communication with each other, they enlisted the help of a family counsellor and started to make official plans about childcare via email.

Lisa remained in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, while Gabe moved to Ottawa, where he went on to marry his new partner, Stephanie.

She already had a five-year-old son but loved Teagan like her own, and Teagan adored her step-brother.

She’d go to stay with Gabe and Stephanie as often as she could, and Gabe would come to see her whenever he had the chance.

Then in 2012, the couple had a son together.

 Lisa and her daughter [Photo: Surrey nowleader]

For Lisa, however, life was less joyful.

Her struggle with depression and anxiety spilt over, and in 2012 she attempted to take her own life.

Teagan went to stay with her dad, but once Lisa had recovered and was deemed safe to look after her daughter again, she was returned to her.

Worried about Lisa’s state of mind, Gabe tried to get custody of Teagan, but his request was declined.

By 2014, it was clear that Lisa’s behaviour was becoming irrational.

She’d send Gabe endless texts and emails and would call constantly through the week.

It got to the point where there were so many messages, he’d have to respond to them in bulk, once a week.

Some of them claimed there was an emergency, but when he’d call to check if Lisa was OK, they’d argue and one of them would hang up.

Nonetheless, they had a child together, so Gabe tried to work through it and put Teagan first.

Although Lisa had the power to make it difficult for him, he remained civil.

In early December 2014, Lisa took Teagan on a day out to a zip-line centre and the eight-year-old was seen beaming in the photos that Lisa shared on social media.

The same week, Gabe paid his daughter a visit, dropping her off at school before he left for home.

Later, Lisa messaged him with the words, ‘It seems you’d rather I disappeared.’

 Teagan with her dad, who she was very close to, even though she didn't live with him [Photo: Courtesy]

He didn’t know what she meant.

This was just the latest in a long line of wild accusations.

That night, 9 December, Lisa told Teagan they were going to have a ‘camp-out’ in their living room.

It must have seemed such fun for the little girl, as they set up makeshift beds.

In the early hours of 10 December, Gabe received a message from Lisa saying Teagan was unwell with the flu and wouldn’t be going to school.

Then at lunchtime that day, a 911 call was placed by a member of the public in Surrey, saying a woman had crashed her car in a residential cul-de-sac.

It initially seemed to the police to be a regular traffic call-out, but soon after they arrived, they realised it was far more serious.

The car was Lisa’s.

She was found curled up in the boot.

In her arms, she was cradling her daughter’s dead body.

It was a horrific and confusing scene.

 Gabe with his second wife Stephanie, Teagan and her half-brother and step-brother [Photo: CTV]

How could the child have been killed in such a minor accident?

Officers realised something wasn’t right.

Lisa kept repeating, ‘I just wanna die’, and that she wanted her daughter to ‘be with Jesus’.

She was found with a large kitchen knife.

Once Lisa had been taken in for questioning, investigators were able to piece together what had happened.

Teagan hadn’t died in the crash – she’d been killed by her own mother.

In a two-hour-long interview, Lisa was recorded blaming what she’d done on her struggle with mental health.

And when it came to a motive, they could find only one: Lisa had killed Teagan to spite her ex-husband, to make sure Gabe didn’t get custody.

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