TROUBLED MOM GRILLED IN TWINS HORROR
One tot found dead, another clings to life
A 13-month-old girl was beaten to death and her twin brother pounded within an inch of his life inside their Queens apartment — just two days after a house call by city child welfare workers, sources said Thursday.
Their mom, Tina Torabi (above), offered no explanation for the gruesome injuries.
A 13-month-old girl was beaten to death and her twin brother pounded within an inch of his life inside their Queens apartment — just two days after a house call by city child welfare workers, sources said Thursday.
The horrific scene in the basement residence emerged Wednesday evening after their troubled mother, quickly grabbed for questioning by police, dialed 911 for help that came too late for badly battered toddler Elaina Torabi.
Her mother Tina Torabi offered no explanation for the gruesome injuries to her daughter and son as detectives from the 111th Precinct grilled her for details in the assaults on the innocent twins. Neighbors watched as a weeping Torabi, who allegedly has a history of drug use, collapsed to the sidewalk while first responders loaded her kids into waiting ambulances.
Torabi was charged with felony assault on the surviving boy late Thursday night, a source said. Police were awaiting the results of an autopsy on the girl before pressing further charges. She had not made any statements to police, the source said.
Elaina’s body bore burn marks and open wounds along with bruises on her head, upper body and thighs. Her brother Keon was fighting to survive in a Queens hospital with two fractured ribs, a broken fibula and tibia, internal bleeding, and various abrasions, lacerations and bruises, sources said.
“I heard some (FDNY officials) saying, ‘They’re in the basement, they’re in the basement,’” said neighbor Sean Higgins, 27. “I thought it was a murder.”
Though a source with knowledge of the case said there was no hint of abuse during the Monday stop-in, the city Medical Examiner raised questions by reporting the children’s badly-bruised bodies bore wounds old and new.
The family’s turbulent backstory revealed a history of drugs and domestic
violence.
Administration for Children’s Services workers visited to check on the mom and her twins, who tested positive for opioids after their Aug. 27, 2017, births. The pair was turned over to a grandmother to raise for six months, and were reunited with their mom only after the older woman returned to her Texas home.
Torabi, a mother of five was suspected of personal drug use, leading to the drug test results for her newborn siblings. The estranged father has been arrested three times, including busts for assault on a family member in 2015, officials said. One of the incidents involved choking Tina Torabi, 30, who obtained an order of protection against her husband of three years, court documents showed.
The deadbeat dad was currently wanted in Nashville for alleged failure to pay child support, said cops, who explained that he was not a suspect in the beatings.
The Torabi family house on Ashby Ave. near Auburndale Lane in Auburndale was blocked off early Thursday by crime scene tape, with an officer stationed outside.
The night before, Torabi called 911 at 9:51 p.m. — and Elaina was dead just 41 minutes later at Flushing Hospital. Her brother remained in critical condition at Cohen Children’s Medical Center.
Neighbor Judanna Cavallo was stunned to learn the kids’ mother was considered a suspect in the beatings.
“I could never imagine that in a million years,” she said through tears. “Absolutely a beautiful person who adored her children. They were always well kept, and nicely dressed, and well taken care of.”
When police arrived, Cavallo recalled, the mother appeared overcome with grief as an ambulance arrived forthe two tiny victims.
“She said nothing to me,” the neighbor recounted. “She was completely distraught and falling down to her knees on the pavement.”
Once Torabi was gone, her three older children — ages 2, 4 and 5 — were led crying from the house by ACS officials. All were found unharmed inside when cops arrived.
“I’m feeling devastated,” said Cavallo. “My heart goes out to that young, innocent soul who passed last night and the boy who is critically hurt. I cannot imagine in my wildest imagination who did it. I’m shocked by this.”
The house’s owners live in Tennessee and are part of the Torabis’ extended family. Cops had not previously been called to the Ashby Ave. address, and there were no apparent warning signs of impending horror.
“Our top priority is protecting the safety and well-being of all children in New York City,” said ACS spokeswoman Chanel Caraway before word of the agency visit leaked. “We are (now) investigating this case, and we have taken action to secure the safety of the other children in this home.”
Neighbor Higgins, an EMT who has lived on the block his whole life, recalled a chaotic scene of ambulance sirens, police officers and weeping children. Higgins was stunned by the sight of first responders carrying children out of of the basement.
“Now I’m like, ‘What’s going on next door?’ ” said Higgins, who was unaware there were any children in the house. “What’s going on here, what’s going on there? It’s crazy.”