Child killer Towner dies in NSW jail

Notorious child killer Neville Raymond Towner has died in NSW custody days away from an upcoming parole hearing where he was to learn the outcome of a recent bid for freedom.

The 52-year-old was 23 when he bashed Lauren Hickson with a rock to stifle her screams before drowning her in the Nepean River in 1989.

Towner was a family friend and babysitter of the four-year-old girl.

He was sentenced to life without parole, however a judge re-determined his sentence in 2002 and set a 20-year minimum term, making him eligible for release from 2009.

A Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman on Wednesday confirmed Towner had died "in hospital due to natural causes".

"A report will be prepared for the coroner," she said in a statement, adding that privacy restrictions prevented further comment.

After a parole hearing earlier this month, Lauren's mother Jurina Hickson said she had suffered for 29 years and recalled her "little darling" daughter's face lighting up.

"If she was alive today, she would've been 33," Ms Hickson said.

The parole authority heard Towner has been suffering "night terrors", which lawyer Brett Thomson, for the state, said was a "not insignificant matter" remaining "somewhat unexplained".

But Ms Hickson doubted Towner would ever change his ways.

"There's an old saying, 'a leopard never changes its spots', and he's playing them," she said.

"I don't want him coming after my family again ... he's a ticking time bomb."

Towner appeared via videolink , bald and with a white beard, at the latest hearing - his fourth review.

The State Parole Authority reserved its decision until Friday.

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