A Florida father showed signs of strange behavior hours before he threw his 5-year-old daughter off a bridge into Tampa Bay early Thursday. The mother of the child also says he has a long history of domestic abuse.

John Jonchuck, Jr. is currently facing first-degree murder and other charges after officials say a St. Petersburg police officer witnessed him throw his daughter, Phoebe, over the railing of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge around midnight on Thursday. The child was later found dead in the frigid water.

On the day before the tragic incident, Jonchuck's attorney called 911 to report that he came to her office with Phoebe and was acting erratically. According to Genevieve Torres, a lawyer for Family First Law Group, Jonchuck claimed he was God and the creator. He also asked her to read the Bible in Swedish.

"He's nuts," Torres told the 911 dispatcher on Wednesday, reports USA Today. "He's out of his mind, and he has a minor child with him [and is] driving to a church now. I should have kept the child (here). I was supposed to file his paperwork for a case. And he's like, 'Well, don't file the paperwork. It's not going to matter anymore.'"

After leaving the attorney's office, Jonchuck sporadically met with a priest seeking baptism.

"He called for an appointment and came to see me," Father Bill Swengros of St. Paul's Catholic Church told WTSP.

Swengros added that Jonchuck also brought along his young daughter.

"For a 5-year-old, she seemed bright, amiable, and self-confident," Swengros said .

Jonchuck admitted to the priest that he had mental issues, but that "wasn't presently under medication," Swengros said .

"He was anxious, agitated but not threatening in any way," he added.

During their meeting, law enforcement agents arrived to question Jonchuck. However, they did not bring him into custody because he did not appear to be a threat.

"He didn't seem to be in a danger to anyone else or himself," said Swengros.

Hours later, Jonchuck return to the church demanding that Swengros baptize him immediately.

"He came back one or two hours later, a little more agitated, wanted to be baptized right away. He brought his mother with him, and I said we don't do that and said he may find another church," said Swengros.

Following the bridge incident, the mother of Phoebe Jonchuck, Michelle Kerr, told FOX 13 that she had a history of domestic issues with him.

"I fear his violent episodes ... he takes a lot of medication and is very aggressive at times," Kerr said in a filing for a restraining order against Jonchuck last April.

Court records also show that there are four domestic violence charges against Jonchuck.

In one domestic case, Kerr told investigators Jonchuck became physically and verbally violent, throwing objects in their home while their daughter was present.

Another report from the Hillsborough County sheriff's Office says he punched Kerr in the face multiple times and pushed her into the bathroom shower in May 2013 after he learned she had called an ex-boyfriend.

Jonchuck is being held in the Pinellas County Jail. His is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 12.

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