4 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 7, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Flushing girl’s death a homicide, mom may face charges
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Following a five-month investigation,
detectives have declared the death
of a 1-year-old Flushing girl — who was
allegedly beaten by her mother — to be a
homicide.
According to a report, police announced
that the City Medical Examiner’s offi ce
determined that Tina Torabi’s daughter
Elaina had died from “fatal child abuse
syndrome.”
“Th e term ‘fatal child abuse syndrome’
is used when a child sustains injuries over
a period of time,” said Chief Medical
Examiner Doctor Barbara Sampson.
Back in October 2018, police arrested
and charged Torabi with assault in the fi rst
degree, reckless endangerment and endangering
the welfare of her infant twins. Th e
attack resulted in Elaina’s death, while her
son Keon was hospitalized in critical condition.
According to the Queens District
Attorney’s offi ce, Tina Torabi is scheduled
to appear in court on March 8. Additional
charges are pending the results of the
ongoing investigation. If she’s charged with
murder, Torabi faces up to 25 years to life
in prison.
“Th e defendant’s alleged actions are
incomprehensible,” Queens District
Attorney Richard A. Brown said in an
Oct. 5 statement. “Unfortunately, her
13-month-old son suff ered greatly in his
short life. An investigation is ongoing with
respect to the death of her daughter.”
Offi cers from the 111th Precinct responded
to the Torabis’ home on Ashby Avenue
near Auburndale Lane on the night of Oct.
3, 2018, and found the twins with severe
bodily trauma. Th ey reported that Elaina
was “unconscious and unresponsive” and
was later pronounced dead at Flushing
Hospital.
Paramedics also rushed Keon to Cohen
Children’s Hospital, where he was treated
for “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,”
the district attorney’s offi ce noted.
Tina shared the Flushing home with
her estranged husband Mohammed, who
reportedly jumped to his death outside
the Renaissance Hotel in Manhattan. She
claimed that it was Mohammed who had
beaten the children and the New York Post
reported that he had a history of violence.
When the Torabis lived in Texas,
Mohammed was charged with choking
his wife and biting his children — a report
consistent with the bite marks found on
Keon.
Th e Torabis were also parents to three
other young children who were taken into
ACS custody fi ve months ago. A report said
that the fi ve children were also removed
from their home in 2017 and sent to live
with their grandmother but were returned
aft er no evidence of drug use was found.
Th e Courier reached out to ACS to
inquire about the current status of the
Torabi children.
“Our top priority is protecting the safety
and wellbeing of all children in New
York City. We rigorously investigate cases
of possible abuse and neglect. Th is case is
under investigation, and we are not permitted
by law to provide additional details,
in order to protect the privacy and safety
of the children and family involved,” said
ACS spokesperson Chanel Caraway.
Met Fresh set to
open shop
in Whitestone
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Met Fresh Supermarket is coming
to Whitestone and local residents are
thrilled.
It’s been nearly three years since
the community lost Strawberry Farms
Supermarket in a fi ery blaze in 2016.
Today, Danny Hamdan, owner/operator
of Met Fresh Supermarket, is looking
forward to welcoming the community
soon to their grand opening.
“People come up to us everyday. We
have people at my door every single
day,” said Hamdan. “I haven’t came
here without someone actually stopping
in their car at the traffi c light,
rolling down their window asking
when we’re going to open, what are
we going to have, or someone walking
by saying they’re excited.”
With three Met Fresh Supermarket
locations in Brooklyn, this will be the
fi rst Met Fresh location in Queens,
reconstructing the former site at 24-11
150th St. Th e new site was previously
occupied Strawberry Farms
Supermarket, which was a staple in
the community.
Th e beloved food market had been
in the neighborhood for over 30 years,
aft er a three-alarm fi re started on the
ground fl oor destroying M&M Dry
Cleaners and Laundromat, where
more than 100 fi refi ghters had worked
overnight to extinguish the fl ames.
“People have told us there is no
neighborhood supermarket in this
area, everything else is over past the
highway, well over a mile away,” said
Hamdan. “We will have essentially all
of the products and a lot more.”
Known for its walk-in beer cave,
Met Fresh Supermarket will have a
huge produce section, a butcher with
a meat department, a seafood department
with fresh fi sh, and an American
grocery supermarket with a circular,
along with imports and speciality
foods, according to Hamdan.
“We’ll have a dairy/frozen section,
a large deli and selection of bread. It’s
going to be a full-service supermarket,
and we strive on providing customer
service,” said Hamdan. “We
have free delivery … we’re a neighborhood
store, where we’ll walk everyone
to their car and make sure everything
is okay.”
Although there isn’t a set date yet,
Met Fresh Supermarket is expected to
be open at the end of March or beginning
of April, said Hamdan. Th ey’re
currently in the process of bringing in
products and working on refrigeration.
“It’s not about doing business that
day, it’s about getting to know the
neighborhood and we’re very excited,”
said Hamdan. “It’s going to be a
neighborhood market and we’re going
to be a one-stop shop.”
Council passes Vallone’s bill targeting reckless developers
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Th e Department of Buildings (DOB)
will now have a tool to stop reckless
developers from utilizing a loophole that
previously allowed them to work once
issued with a notice to revoke.
Last week, the City Council unanimously
passed Councilman Paul Vallone’s bill
that allows the DOB to issue a stop work
order whenever a notice to revoke is
issued. Th e new legislation would allow
for the DOB to promote construction-site
safety and ensure that construction ceases
when there is proof that it violates the law.
Civic activists highlighted a previous
loophole — a two-week “limbo” period
aft er DOB issues a notice to revoke where
construction would oft en continue. In
the past, property owners and contractors
were served a notice to revoke following
concerns about potential zoning and permit
violations.
Once the notice to revoke was issued,
property owners had a 10- to 15-day window
to respond to objects and concerns,
though construction was allowed to continue
during the two weeks. If unanswered
in that time period, permits are
revoked and an offi cial stop work order
is issued.
“Too oft en, a notice to revoke has
really been little more than a notice to
fi nish your work as soon as possible
before the DOB can act. What good is a
notice to revoke if it has no teeth? Valid
concerns and clear evidence should be
more than enough to warrant a stop
work order, especially when a property
owner or contractor has a history of
violations,” said Vallone. “I’m proud
to pass this bill which fi nally gives the
DOB the tools they need to combat
reckless developers and the blatant disregard
of construction permit requirements.
Granting the DOB the discretion
to choose when to issue stop work
orders also helps protect regular homeowners
who make an honest mistake
from suff ering the same consequences
as those who operate with no regard for
our communities and laws.”
Vallone fi rst introduced the legislation
in 2016 following the destruction of
an unoffi cial Bayside landmark at 218-15
40th Ave. Residents became concerned
once they noticed that the new owners
were violating the Alt-1 permits which
required them to retain 50 percent of the
structure. DOB issued Jia Hua Realty a
notice to revoke in April 2016 but an offi -
cial stop work order was not issued until
August of that year.
Activists including Broadway-Flushing
Homeowners Association President
Kevin Morris and Broadway-Flushing
homeowner, activist and Vallone’s community
liaison Maria Becce celebrated
the new bill and viewed it as a win for
the DOB.
“Th anks to Council member Vallone’s
bill, the Department of Buildings has
applied a brake to developers who rush
construction aft er a notice to revoke,”
Morris said. “When the pell-mell densifi
cation of the outer boroughs is mitigated,
thousands of homeowners — and the
entire city — will benefi t.”
Photo courtesy of City Councilman Paul Vallone
Photo by Jenna Bagcal/THE COURIER, inset via Facebook
Tina Torabi (inset) may face murder charges after her daughter’s death last October was ruled a
homicide.
/WWW.QNS.COM
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