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A mother will stand trial for murder after her 11-year-old daughter died of starvation.
Connecticut girl Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-Garcia was denied food for two weeks leading up to her death in 2024 and was often tied up with zip ties, according to police.
Her remains were found inside a plastic bin in October, but authorities believe she died at least a year earlier.
Court records show that in a disgusting disguise, another child impersonated Jacqueline during a video call with child welfare services a few months after her death.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released an official determination last week that Jacqueline died from “fatal child abuse combined with starvation.”
“No child should ever have to suffer like this,” said Public Safety Director Paul Melanson. hartford Suburb of Farmington. He said Jacqueline’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 for the three defendants detained on bail declined 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.”
dead body found in bin
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 believe Jacqueline died more than a year earlier, 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 threw the dustbin containing Jacqueline’s body in an abandoned house in October.
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 of this year, the Department of Children and Families responded to a report of possible child abuse at the Garcia home involving Jacqueline’s sister, the agency said. 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.
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.