Mother accused of decapitating five-year-old, leaving body in bin

A mother in Houston, Texas stands accused of killing her five-year-old son after she allegedly drowned and decapitated the boy before leaving his body in a bin in the garage, according to prosecutors.

Lihui Liu has been charged with capital murder and held without bail following a court appearance.

The 43-year-old was arrested after Houston police responded to a stabbing call on Friday night at the family's home.

Inside the home, officers found the slain child on the garage floor, headless and partially covered by a plastic bag, where the boy's father had found him when he came home from work.

The father told police he'd left his wife home that morning with their 5-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. When he returned, he found his wife in the garage, saying she'd sent the boy away.

His father started looking for him - and then Liu admitted the child was in the bin, police said.

He opened the bin to find his son's body wrapped in a black plastic bag alongside the severed head.

Police later found a bloody knife in the bathroom and a blood-spattered bath. Under questioning, Liu allegedly admitted to drowning her boy, but refused to talk about the decapitation.

She was later arrested and taken to jail.