Who is Tiffany Farrauto? Connecticut mom who strangled 4-year-old son to death on suicide watch after arrest
A New London woman is facing charges for murdering her own 4-year-old son, who was found unresponsive in their apartment in the morning on March 7. Tiffany Farrauto, 33, appeared in court on March 8 for the first time since she was arrested for strangling her son. Judge Shari Murphy ordered that she be held on a $2M bond, and be placed under a suicide watch and a mental health watch. Farrauto will undergo an evaluation to see if she is competent to stand trial.
Farrauto has been charged with murder and risk of injury to a minor. Farrauto's mother, Cindy Steenson, said at a candlelight vigil on March 8 that her grandson's name was David Jasmin aka Cash. "I talked to the officers who first arrived at the scene. They were choked up by it. All of them have children the same age and it hits home. It hits you right in the gut," said New London's police chief Peter Reichard, speaking to Fox News, while trying to hold back tears.
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Tuesday's front page: Mother charged with murder had sought DCF help. https://t.co/i6SJciUoKj pic.twitter.com/QPerYHYGSC
— The Day (@thedayct) March 9, 2021
Who is Tiffany Farrauto?
Police responded to a report about a vehicle being vandalized outside an apartment at 242 Nautilus Drive at around 6:27 a.m. "Like somebody hitting something. I don't know what it was," said Rachel Castillo, a New London resident, describing the sound to WSFB. What Castillo heard was cars in a nearby parking lot getting hit. "Then, I heard a lady walking and she kept saying, 'You screwed up. You screwed up. You screwed up,' and that was it," Castillo explained.
When officers were called, they spoke to Farrauto who was armed with a bat as she said, "Take me away." On being asked why she wanted them to take her away, she indicated that she had harmed her son, who was in the apartment, and whom she had "strangled", alleged police.
Officers immediately went into the apartment to conduct a well-being check, where they found an unconscious and unresponsive 4-year-old boy, who was later confirmed to be her son. The child was later transported to L+M Hospital by the New London Fire Department, where he was pronounced dead, shortly after arriving at the hospital. Reichard said he proceeded to the emergency room himself where several more of his officers and the entire emergency room staff were present. "It hits home with them too and they do these things every day," he said to Fox News. "It's not easy."
Farrauto was initially arrested for two counts of criminal mischief in the third degree. She was charged with murder and risk of injury to a minor after additional investigation. In court on Monday, March 8, bail commissioner Tim Gilman said that he learned during an interview with Farrauto that she has "serious mental health issues", which Farrauto's attorney corroborated. "She said she is not in treatment now, not getting any medication," said Gilman, adding that Farrauto did not accurately answer some of his questions, specifically one question about where she lives. "She gave me a list of numbers followed by the claim she lived in a squad car," said Gilman.
The Connecticut Department of Children and Families has released a statement saying that Farrauto had recently asked for help and reported that she thought someone had hurt her son. Steenson said to The Day that she believed her daughter had 'snapped'. "Whatever happened, she must just have had no control, she never would have hurt him if she was in her right mind. She never hurt anyone," said Steenson.
Friends and family who set up a GoFundMe to raise funds and pay for funeral expenses called him a “sweet baby boy.” Rachel Mercer-Consoli, Farrauto’s friend, told The Day newspaper: “David was an innocent 4-year-old boy who was loved by so many people. He didn’t deserve what happened to him."