Teagan Batstone's mother told police, 'I murdered her,' court hears
'Oh my God she’s gone,’ sobs mother accused of killing child on tapes played in B.C. Supreme Court
Tapes of a sobbing Lisa Batstone were played in a New Westminster courtroom Thursday during her trial for second degree murder.
The 45-year-old South Surrey woman is accused of killing her eight-year-old daughter, Teagan, in December 2014.
Today, she cried as audio from the day of her arrest echoed in the courtroom.
On Dec. 10, 2014, court heard Batstone came to the police's attention after knocking on the door of a house in Surrey and saying her daughter was dead in the back of her Mazda.
The car had two wheels in a ditch and when police arrived, Crown counsel Christopher McPherson said officers found Batstone curled up with her daughter's body in the back of the hatchback. She was arrested for impaired driving.
In his opening, Crown counsel Christopher McPherson told the court the officer who arrived on scene in the cul-de-sac south of Crescent Road reported Batstone said, "I murdered her."
Batstone was then arrested for murder.
Surrey RCMP Cpl Dwayne Friesen testified Thursday how he went to Peace Arch Hospital where he talked to Batstone, who was handcuffed for her own protection.
Recordings of Batstone made the day of her arrest were played in BC Supreme Court, as relatives listened in the gallery.
"I'm so sorry I loved her so much. I just wanted to protect her," Batstone can be heard saying between sobs and statements about her child after her arrest.
"Oh my God, she's gone."
She can be heard telling the nurse and police that she needed to protect Teagan from her "relentless" ex-husband.
"I just couldn't leave her with him. He's so evil, I needed to protect her," said Batstone on the recordings.
The distraught mother then tells medical staff she was previously admitted to hospital after a suicide attempt.
Her former husband, Gabe Batstone, tried to get custody of the couple's daughter in 2012, but a judge ruled that Teagan must be returned to her mother.
After Teagan died, her father began calling for the creation of a formal child's advocate to protect children caught in custody disputes or threatened by parents.
In court Thursday, Batstone can be heard breaking down on tape.
"You win Gabe. You broke me," she shouts at one point on the recording.
Justice Catherine Murray will determine if Batstone's repeated admissions can be used as evidence, or if officers who questioned her in hospital as she received treatment, violated her legal rights because she had not spoken to a lawyer.
The trial continues this week and next.