SandyMaloneMiami, FL – Authorities have identified a Miami Beach police officer as the father of the four-year-old girl found dead in a dumpster on Sunday.
Tania Paige, 4, was found partially decomposed in a trash dumpster in southwest Miami-Dade County on Nov. 5.
Miami-Dade Police said Tania’s mother, Tina Farrington, confessed to murdering the child Halloween night by suffocating her with a pillow, according to WPLG.
Tania’s father, Officer Leon Paige, did not live with his children and their mother.
Officer Leon, 27, had restricted visitation with his daughter and two-year-old son as a result of a complaint Farrington filed against him in June, according to the Miami Herald.
Police said Farrington, 31, had financial problems in addition to her relationship issues, before she killed her daughter.
She stopped paying rent on her apartment in July, and was ordered evicted by a court order on Oct. 23.
On Halloween night, Farrington became angry with four-year-old Tania when her daughter talked back to her.
She lured her daughter and her two-year-old son into a bedroom, and used a pillow to smother her eldest child, the police report said.
Authorities said Farrington hid the little girl’s body in the trunk of her car for a few days, but when the corpse began to smell, she move her daughter’s dead body to a dumpster in their apartment complex.
Police said bruises could be seen on the arms, legs, and torso of the four year old’s partially decomposed body.
A neighbor was taking out his trash at about 12:45 p.m. on Nov. 6 when he saw the little girl’s body wrapped in a blanket, and called the police.
Farrington was charged Monday with first degree murder.
Officer Paige has worked for the Miami Beach Police Department for a little more than a year. Prior to that, he worked as trooper for the Florida Highway Patrol.
In June, Farrington accused Officer Paige of abusing their two-year-old son, the Miami Herald reported.
She filed a restraining order against Officer Paige alleging he beat their son with a belt.
Farrington also claimed that Tania’s father had put scratches on the little girl’s face, the police report said.
She contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families. They investigated and found no signs of abuse, the Miami Herald reported.
Despite no evidence that Officer Paige abused his children, a judge granted Farrington’s restraining order request on Aug. 9, but granted Officer Paige supervised visitation until the legal case was resolved, WPLG reported. The restraining order expires on Dec. 31.
A shelter hearing was held Tuesday regarding Officer Paige’s two-year-old son.
The judge determined that the child will live with his maternal grandmother for the time being, and continue supervised visits with his father three times a week.
In court, the little boy cried for his mother.
Miami Beach Police released a statement of condolence for Officer Paige and his family, and asked that the officer’s privacy be respected.