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an 11 year old boy connecticut Police say the girl was not given food for two weeks until her death last year and was often kept tied with zip ties.
Her remains were found inside a plastic bin last month. Court records show that a few months after his death, another child imitated him during a video call with the state child welfare agency.
Shocking details of Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-Garcia’s death have emerged in recent weeks with arrest and search warrants being issued alleging serious abuse and an attempted cover-up. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner issued an official determination last week that she died from “fatal child abuse coupled with starvation.”
“No child should ever have to suffer like this,” said Public Safety Director Paul Melanson. hartford The suburb of Farmington told reporters last month that the girl’s death was difficult to understand and had taken an emotional toll on investigators.
On Friday, Jacqueline’s mother, 29-year-old Carla Garcia, and two other people arrested in the case appeared briefly in Torrington Superior Court. Garcia’s attorney pleaded not guilty on his behalf to charges including murder and cruelty to a child.
Garcia’s ex-boyfriend, 30-year-old Jonathan Nanita, entered no plea to similar charges, including murder. Garcia’s sister, Jacqueline Garcia, who is not charged with murder, pleaded not guilty to cruelty to a child and other charges. The defendants’ cases continued through December.
lawyers The three defendants, who were in custody on bail, refused to respond directly to the allegations against their clients after the court hearing.
“Obviously the allegations are terrible and what happened to this child is terrible,” said Ioannis Kaloidis, Jacqueline Garcia’s attorney. “It has not yet been determined what my client’s guilt is.”
Girl’s body found in plastic box
The girl’s body was found Oct. 8 in a plastic box that had been dumped at an abandoned house in New Britain, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) southwest of Hartford. Police I believe Jacqueline died more than a year ago, in September 2024, when she lived with her mother and siblings in nearby Farmington.
In the arrest warrant, police said Carla Garcia admitted that she and Nanita had stopped feeding the girl two weeks before her death, and that she, Nanita and Jacqueline Garcia all abused her, including using zip ties as restraints. Carla Garcia has three children with Nanita and two other children, including Jacqueline, with another man. Police allege that Nainita had thrown the dustbin containing Jacqueline’s body in an abandoned house last month.
According to police, Carla Garcia told investigators that her daughter “was bad, she didn’t listen to them, didn’t respect them.” She also said during a police interview that Jacqueline was doing things she shouldn’t have been doing, including hitting other kids, going into people’s cars and having five boyfriends, the arrest warrant said.
Police said Garcia initially told them he believed Jacqueline died from injuries Nanita suffered when the girl pushed her mother down some stairs. But the warrant says when investigators told her an autopsy found no signs of physical injuries, she confessed to neglect and abuse.
Authorities said Carla Garcia kept her daughter’s remains in her home and took them with her when she moved back to New Britain earlier this year. In the summer of 2024, she removed the girl from the local school system, telling officials that her daughter would be homeschooled. Police said that when people asked where the girl was, she told that she was staying with a friend or other relatives.
In January this year, the Department of Children and Family The agency responded to a report of possible child abuse at the Garcia home involving Jacqueline’s sister. A video call was set up, and officers spoke to a girl whom Carla Garcia claimed was Jacqueline, but police said it was actually another girl, possibly the daughter of one of Carla Garcia’s friends.
The department said it is reviewing its dealings with the family. Officials said the agency had prior contact with the family, with the last contact occurring in 2022 when it determined the children were safe.
Department and law face scrutiny
State lawmakers, including both Democrats and Republicans, are questioning the department’s actions. Concerns have also been raised about whether state homeschooling laws require greater child monitoring requirements.
The Department of Children and Families and homeschooling laws also came under scrutiny earlier this year when a man rescued from a house fire in Waterbury told police he had been held captive in the house for the past 20 years since he was about 11 years old. She also was pulled out of public schools and homeschooled, officials said.