DALLAS -- The stepfather of a woman police say cut off her baby's arms said she's a "gentle person," who must have been suffering from mental illness.

The Texas woman, Dena Schlosser, 35, is facing capital murder charges in the death of her 10-month-old daughter, Margaret. Schlosser called 911 and told an operator what she had done. She was in her apartment when police arrived, still holding a knife and listening to a church hymn.

Schlosser’s stepfather said she is the least likely person he knows to do such a thing. He said, "The only explanation that makes sense," is that she was suffering from postpartum depression.

"If you'd taken a hundred acquaintances at random and said to me, 'who would be the least likely to do anything involving violence?' I would have put Dena at the head of that list," her stepfather, Mick Macaulay, said Wednesday in a telephone interview from Canada, where he and Schlosser's mother live.

"This is a woman who takes birds' wings, if they're broken, and splints them and nurses them back to health," he said. "Just a very gentle person."

The woman has a history of the illness and her attorney said she's disoriented and not competent enough to stand trial.

The lawyer said Schlosser had brain surgeries as a youngster. Attorney David Haynes told The Associated Press he's requesting Dena Schlosser's medical records.

A medical examiner said the baby died Nov. 22 from "sharp force amputation of the upper extremities."

The attorney said Schlosser had three brain surgeries between the ages of 8 and 13 to install devices that drained excess fluid from her head.

Schlosser was treated this year for postpartum depression, and was also accused of child neglect earlier this year, but a state investigation found she did not pose a risk to the baby or her other two daughters.

Meanwhile, Schlosser’s husband is fighting to get custody of his two other children.

John Schlosser's children are in temporary foster care. A judge granted temporary custody of the girls, ages 6 and 9, to Texas Child Protective Services after the agency determined their father, John Schlosser, had failed to protect them from their mother.

A friend of the family said Schlosser deserves to have custody of his children.

"I do think he's getting double punished for it. He didn't really do anything wrong. I think he should have his kids," Greg Fleming said.

Dena Schlosser's lawyer asked a judge to set bond to get her out of jail.

A private burial for the 11-month-old girl was held Monday.