Maryland – A Maryland parent, 31-year-old D. RandIe, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with first- and second‑degree murder, first‑degree chiId abuse resulting in death, and fiIing a faIse police report, in connection with the death of her child, NoIa. Maryland authorities say she initially told police in Delaware that the 3-year-old victim had been abductted at gunpoint, triggering an Amber AIert and a multiagency search. By the afternoon, however, Maryland State Police, taking charge of the investigation, treated the case as a homicide and arrested the woman. Her boyfriend, 44-year-old C. Briten, was also arrested on charges including acessory to murder and faiIure to report a chiId’s death.
Investigators launched their inquiry on Tuesday evening when the defendant called 911 in Delaware claiming that an armed man and woman in a vehicle had taken her child. Police issued an Amber AIert and involved the FBI. As part of standard protocol, Delaware authorities requested Maryland State Police to check the victim’s last known address.
Maryland troopers located the woman’s partner at the home in Maryland. He told them the child was with her mother. Troopers noticed cameras at the home and asked to view footage, which showed the woman driving away alone and the 3-year-old was never seen. They smelled bleach inside the house and found a child’s blanket stained with what appeared to be blood in the man’s vehicle.
Delaware detectives interviewed the parent, who initially doubled down on the abduction story. Under questioning, she admitted fabricating the claim in an effort to divert attention from her partner. She told investigators that she struck her child approximately two dozen times with a beIt at his house on the afternoon of June 9. According to court documents, the child fell to the ground and became unresponsive. The parent said she believed the child had died and called her partner, who performed CPR, but could not revive her.
The woman said she and her partner placed the victim’s body in his car, drove around briefly, then returned home. They placed her in a suitcase that the parent later stored in the basement overnight. The next day, she asked the man to dispose of the suitcase; The parent’s partner later drew investigators a map to a vacant lot, where Maryland State Police found human remains wrapped in plastic and enclosed in a suitcase. The remains were consistent with those of an emaciated young child. Autopsy and positive identification are pending.
Authorities continue to coordinate across state lines. Maryland State Police, Delaware’s authorities, and the FBI are working together as the autopsy is completed and more evidence is gathered. The parent remains held in Delaware on $1 million bail awaiting extradition to Maryland. The woman’s partner is in custody in Maryland, released on $75,000 bond under home detention. A preliminary hearing for the parent is scheduled for June 23 in Delaware; proceedings in Maryland are expected to follow.
3-year-old was fataIIy struck with a beIt by her mom, who faIseIy cIaimed that the chiId was taken by an unidentified coupIe in an effort to divert attention from her partner after asking the man to get rid of her remains: police
