Cops: Mom killed girl, 4, for back talk
Back talk from a 4-year-old prompted the child’s mother to suffocate the girl on Halloween night and then hide her body for days, Miami-Dade police said.
Tina M. Farrington, 31, suffocated Tania Paige with a pillow in their Tuscany Place apartment, 25470 SW 137th Ave., according to an arrest report released Monday.
“The defendant became upset after hearing the victim talk back to her,” the report said.
Citing the open investigation, police declined to elaborate on the nature of the back talk. “They’re not going to go into
that here and now,” said Detective Artemis Colome. “They won’t give that information out this quick.”
Farrington was home with her two children — Tania and a younger son — about 7 p.m. on Oct. 31 when she became upset with her daughter’s sassy behavior.
Farrington “lured” the children to her bedroom, where she killed her daughter, the report said.
A police spokeswoman said she did not know Farrington’s son’s age or whether he witnessed his sister’s killing.
“For several days” Farrington stashed her daughter’s body in the trunk of her 2013 Nissan Altima sedan. When the smell became too intense, Farrington moved the child’s body to a dumpster about 1 a.m. Sunday.
A man who was throwing away garbage later that day found the child’s bruised and decaying remains.
“The defendant provided a detailed confession regarding her involvement in the death of the victim,” the arrest report said.
Farrington was arrested Monday morning on suspicion of committing first-degree murder.