On Wednesday afternoon, an emotionally disturbed Francis Cabello grabbed her 5-year-old daughter Fabiana as she innocently played with her toys, took her to an upstairs room of their 110th St. home, closed the door, and asphyxiated her, leaving her wide-eyed child's cherubic face scratched, with blood coming out of the tot's nose and mouth.

Forty-five minutes later, the 32-year-old mom - who neighbors described as a doting parent, although they had grown concerned for her well-being of late - emerged from the room and called 911, chillingly telling a dispatcher,  I killed my daughter,  police and prosecutors said.

 I killed my daughter,  she said repeatedly as cops were called to the scene and found the little girl unconscious, lying face-up on a mattress, covered in vomit.

On Thursday, the gaunt, hollow-cheeked Cabello was arrested for murder. Her struggles with mental illness, which led to a long hospitalization and visits to her home by the NYPD, led to the cold-blooded killing that rattled the entire neighborhood.

 It's a heartbreaking story,  said neighbor Luis Salomon Perez, 60, whose grandchildren often played with Fabiana  It really hurt those neighbors who knew her. 

Here's what we know about Francis Cabello, and how her mental illness led to this heartbreaking tragedy.

Francis had been struggling with mental illness

When cops showed up at Cabello's home on Wednesday, they quickly realized they had been there before.

Police sources said Cabello has a history of mental health problems recorded by the NYPD, who have responded to the home at least once.

Earlier this year, police were called to the family's home and Cabello was taken to a hospital for observation, a police source with knowledge of the case said.

She was not violent during that prior incident, which did not involve the daughter, the source said.

She had been hospitalized before

Her father, Franklin Cabello, admitted that Francis had spent several months in Jamaica Hospital's psychiatric unit earlier this year, prompting him to keep an eye on her, he told Spectrum News NY1.

It was not immediately clear if 
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