4 THE QUEENS COURIER • JULY 25, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Man found dead inside a parked
car on a Flushing street: NYPD
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com
@QNS
Police are investigating the death of a
man who was found inside of a hot car
parked in Flushing on Sunday evening.
At around 5:50 p.m. on July 21, police
received a 911 call regarding an unconscious
man in a car parked across from
26-30 169th St. Upon their arrival, offi cers
from the 109th Precinct found the man,
who has yet to be identifi ed, unconscious
and unresponsive in the driver’s seat.
EMS responded to the location and
pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
Police say that the car had been parked
in the area from around 10:30 a.m. to 6
p.m. that night before the witness discovered
the victim’s body in the car.
No arrests have been made at this time.
Th e investigation is ongoing.
Flushing mom sentenced for
killing daughter and abusing son
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@robbpoz
A 30-year-old Flushing
woman who raised twin babies
in a “house of horrors” received
a 12-year prison sentence
on Th ursday for her role in
repeated abuse that led to her
13-month-old daughter’s death
and nearly killed her twin
brother back in October 2018.
Tina Torabi, 30, of Ashby
Avenue in the Auburndale
section of Flushing pleaded
guilty back in May to fi rst-degree
assault and second-degree
manslaughter.
Her 13-month-old daughter,
Elaina, died of injuries
related to fatal child abuse
syndrome, the Medical
Examiner’s offi ce determined.
Elaina’s twin brother suff ered a litany of
injuries also related to child abuse syndrome
— and nine months later, he is still
recovering from them, according to acting
Queens District Attorney John Ryan.
“Th e baby twins lived in a house of horrors
with their siblings,” Ryan said on July
18. “Th e mother of these children had a
responsibility — not just to provide food
and clothing. She had an obligation to protect
them from harm. Instead, the baby
girl is dead as a result of profound physical
abuse. Th e girl’s twin brother had a long list
of ghastly injuries.”
Offi cers from the 111th Precinct and
EMS units responded to the Torabi home
at 10 p.m. on Oct. 3, 2018, aft er she called
911 to report that Elaina had lost consciousness.
Upon arriving at their home,
fi rst responders found her fi ve children —
including her twin babies and three older
siblings — living inside a dirty basement
apartment.
Elaina was pronounced dead at the scene.
Prosecutors said that an autopsy determined
she had been dead for at least 24
hours before her mother called 911 for
help. Th e baby’s death was ruled a homicide.
Paramedics rushed Elaina’s twin brother
to a hospital on Long Island for treatment
of numerous injuries related to child abuse,
including multiple rib fractures, lung contusions,
a fractured pelvis, a visibly healing
bite mark, a tibia fracture and an adrenal
hemorrhage.
Th e babies’ siblings — ages 5, 4 and 2 —
were found unattended in the basement
apartment. Th ey were placed in the custody
of the Administration for Children’s
Services. Th ey had been removed from
Tina Torabi’s custody back in 2017 amid a
drug use investigation, but later returned to
their mother aft er the probe proved inconclusive.
Days aft er the child’s death, Mohammed
Torabi — Tina’s estranged husband and
the children’s father — jumped to his
death from a Manhattan high-rise hotel.
According to published reports, Tina
allegedly told investigators that he had
beaten the children, and police had been
looking to question him for his role in the
fatal child abuse.
On July 18, Queens Supreme Court
Justice Richard Buchter ordered Tina
Torabi to serve concurrent sentences of
four to 12 years in prison for the manslaughter
charge and 8 1/2 years behind
bars for the assault count.
“Th e defendant will have a long time
to dwell on her failures that led to her
own child’s death and to the other baby’s
extreme suff ering,” Ryan added on July 18.
“Th e sentence imposed by the Court today
is more than warranted.”
Whitestone intersection gets
long-awaited all-way stop sign
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
A busy Whitestone intersection
just got a lot safer.
Councilman Paul
Vallone announced
that the Department of
Transportation installed a
new stop sign at the intersection
of 163rd Street and
24th Road in the northeast
Queens neighborhood.
Residents Cyrille Kousiaris
and Salvatore Cippo began
advocating for increased
safety measures at this intersection
in 2008.
Prior to the stop sign
installation, there was a sixblock
stretch along 163rd
Street without a stop sign
where cars would constantly
speed.
“Th is long-awaited traffi
c control is a win for
Whitestone and the residents
of 163rd Street who have
been petitioning for safety measures for
over a decade,” said Councilman Paul
Vallone. “I thank Cyrille Kousiaris and
Salvatore Cippo for their advocacy and
Queens Borough Commissioner Nicole
Garcia for working closely with my offi ce
on this issue.”
In 2013, Kousaris and Cippo circulated
and submitted a petition to DOT asking
the agency to implement much-needed
safety measures on 163rd Street to
reduce the speeding. In December 2018,
Cippo contacted Vallone to report a
series of car collisions at the intersection.
Following the crashes, Vallone penned
a letter to DOT Queens Borough
Commissioner Nicole Garcia asking the
agency to conduct a traffi c study at the
location. Th e councilman fi rst reached
out to DOT concerning this issue in
2014.
“Finally, aft er 11 years and innumerable
car accidents, the four-way stop
signs were installed on July 15, 2019,”
said Kousiaris. “Without the help of
Councilman Paul Vallone, I am sure this
would not have been done. He took the
lead and made the impossible happen,
proving to my neighbors and me that
some offi cials do listen to the people and
are there for their community. On behalf
of my neighbors on 163rd Street, I would
like to thank Councilman Vallone and
the DOT for making this happen.”
In the past, Vallone has advocated for
other all-way stop signs in Whitestone,
including one at 17th Road and Murray
Street. Th e intersection was the site of a
hit-and-run that left a 71-year-old critically
injured back in 2017.
“In 2007, I moved to a corner house in
Whitestone, and soon aft er I started to
see accidents due to speeding on 163rd
Street and poor visibility on the adjacent
road,” said Cippo. “In the last 12 years,
Cyrille has lost two new cars to accidents
and my house was hit by a car. I
contacted Paul Vallone’s offi ce and I was
instructed to inform them of any new
accident. A new stop sign was installed
on July 15, saving someone from injury
or possible death.”
Photo by Robert Stridiron
Photo courtesy of Council Member Vallone’s offi ce
Photo: Jenna Bagcal/QNS, with inset via Facebook
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