BY JENNA BAGCAL AND ROBERT POZARYCKI
A Flushing mother will be arraigned Friday on charges that she brutally beat her 1-year-old son and his twin sister, who died of her injuries.
Law enforcement sources said that 30-year-old Tina Torabi was arrested on Oct. 4 and charged with assault. Her 1-year-old son, Keon Torabi, remains in critical condition at Cohen Children’s Hospital with multiple life-threatening injuries.
So far, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Tina Torabi faces first-degree charges of assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. Additional charges involving the death of Elaina Torabi — Keon’s 1-year-old sister who was also found at the home with severe body trauma — are pending the results of the ongoing investigation.
“The defendant’s alleged actions are incomprehensible,” Brown said in an Oct. 5 statement. “Unfortunately, her 13-month-old son suffered greatly in his short life. An investigation is ongoing with respect to the death of her daughter.”
Officers from the 111th Precinct responded to a 911 call at 9:51 p.m. on Oct. 3 and reported to the Torabis’ home on Ashby Avenue near Auburndale Lane.
When they arrived, they found 1-year-old girl Elaina unconscious and unresponsive, and 1-year-old Keon also injured. Law enforcement sources said that both infants suffered severe trauma to their bodies. It was not immediately known how their injuries were inflicted.
Paramedics rushed to the scene and transported Elaina to Flushing Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her body was transported to the Medical Examiner’s office for an autopsy to determine the official cause of death.
Brown said that Keon remains in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center for injuries including multiple acute rib fractures, contusions on his lungs, an acute fractured pelvis, a visible healing bite mark, an acute left spiral tibia fracture and adrenal hemorrhage.
NYPD said that Torabi’s other children, ages 2, 4 and 5, have been taken into custody by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS).
Published reports indicated that in 2017, Torabi’s five children were removed from their home and sent to live with their grandmother. In March, a judge returned the children to Torabi’s care after no evidence of drug use was found.
The New York Post reported that Torabi’s estranged husband Mohammad had disappeared after their daughter died. His body was found two days later on an air conditioning unit outside the Renaissance New York Hotel in Manhattan, where it is believed he jumped to his death.
Tina claimed that it was Mohammad who had violently beaten the children on that fateful day, and an ACS official told the Post that “it just makes a lot more sense,” that Mohammad had abused the children based on his past domestic violence history. When the Torabis lived in Texas, Mohammad was accused of choking his wife and biting his children. It was noted that the surviving toddler Keon had bite marks on his body when he was brought to the hospital.
If convicted of the assault charge, Tina Torabi faces up to 25 years behind bars, Brown said.
This story was updated on Oct. 10 at 4:12 p.m.
