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A year ago, child protection workers were invited to a modest house in Queens to look after a mother of five young children, as she had just given birth to fraternal twins. boy and girl, opioids.
On Wednesday night, the police were summoned to the same single-family home to face a much more serious situation. The 13-month-old girl was found dead and showed signs of physical trauma, and her brother, who was also injured, clung to life.
The mother, Tina Moussighi Torabi, 30, was arrested and interrogated throughout the day. Police said that they were still trying to piece together what had happened in the basement of the Ashby Avenue home where she lived.
The Children's Services Administration removed the three twin brothers and sisters, all under the age of six, from the home. The girl, Elaina Torabi, was pronounced dead at Flushing Hospital while her twin brother was in critical condition at the Cohen Children's Medical Center.
"Our top priority is to protect the safety and well-being of all children in New York City," the agency said in a statement. "We are investigating this case and we have taken steps to ensure the safety of the other children in this house."
Death has raised questions about whether social workers who visited the house a year ago had forgotten something. The child protection agency has been under the supervision of an independent monitor since December 2016. State officials have asked for the appointment of a controller after a series of child deaths has highlighted botched investigations and the failure of kidnapping children at risk.
Child protection officers visited Ms. Torabi at least once after doctors in the hospital where the twins were born found opioids in their blood, the police said. The social workers continued to work with Ms. Torabi after the initial visit, said two people close to the case who spoke under the guise of anonymity to discuss a confidential file.
Ms. Torabi had roots in Houston and we did not know when she moved to New York. The house where she lived seemed to belong to her husband's family, Mohammad Torabi. The police described Mr. Torabi as being separated from his wife.
Judanna Cavallo, 52, has been living on the street for about 15 years. She stated that she did not know her husband, but that she had met Ms. Torabi about a year ago. "Happy, lovable, outgoing – too playful with children," said Ms. Cavallo. "If I had seen any sign of something, I would have reported it. Not the least. Never."
The Torabis were married in Houston in 2012. Ms. Torabi, a graduate in biology from the University of Houston, had been certified as a pharmacy technician from 2008 to 2014 and as a real estate agent in Texas.
The marriage was troubled. A magistrate granted Ms. Torabi a protection order in February 2015 after Mr. Torabi, 31, confessed to the authorities his suffocation.
The red brick house in which Mrs. Torabi lives is located in a quiet, tree-lined block where many houses were adorned with autumn decorations: autumn wreaths, colorful squash and pumpkin cutouts on the windows.
The sirens sound in the street shortly after 22 hours. Wednesday, when the police arrived and residents, including Sal Sica, came out to see what was happening.
He added that Ms. Torabi had left her house running barefoot and was riding in an ambulance where emergency medical technicians were trying to resuscitate Elaina without success.
"I think the baby was already dead," said Sica, a 24-year-old real estate agent with three doors. "She acted with great remorse and sadness at the situation. I gave her my flip flops because she did not have shoes.
Mr. Sica said that Ms. Torabi and her children lived in the basement of the house and that she often came in and out of the house looking around. "She always had a gang of five children with her and she could never control them," he said.
Wednesday night, the children moaned as they came out of the house.
"After the departure of the ambulance, they started looking after children, one by one," Ms. Cavallo said. "In a row, they started screaming.
Ms. Cavallo said that she kissed the children and tried to give them assurances. She told one of the children, "I want my mom," and I said, "You'll see your mother soon."
After talking to the police, she feared it would not be true.
Ashley Southall contributed to the reports. Susan C. Beachy contributed to the research.
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