MIAMI – A 2-year-old boy whose mother confessed to killing his sister was reunited with his father Monday at a custody hearing in Miami.
Police say the boy's mother, Tina Farrington, suffocated 4-year-old Taina Paige on Halloween and abandoned her body in a garbage bin in Miami-Dade's Naranja neighborhood.
Miami Beach Police Department Officer Leon Paige lost custody of the two children after Farrington, 31, accused him of abuse in July. Farrington claimed Paige beat the boy with a belt and scratched his face.
At the time, a Miami-Dade circuit judge granted a temporary restraining order against Leon Paige. While the case was ongoing, he was limited to two supervised visits with the children a week.
According to court records, Paige said Farrington fabricated the claims, calling them an "extreme stunt."
Meanwhile, Florida Department of Children and Families launched an investigation and found no signs of abuse. Paige was not charged or arrested.
On Monday, Farrington appeared in court and agreed to lift the restraining order, which cleared the way for boy to begin living with Paige.
The boy had been living with his maternal grandmother, Hattie Farrington, since the death of his sister. In recent weeks, the boy has begun asking for his sister. Paige and the boy plan to attend therapy sessions.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marcia B. Caballero urged Paige to keep Hattie Farrington in the boy's life.
Farrington is in jail awaiting trial on murder charges. She could face the death penalty.
According to an arrest report, Farrington was at home with her two children on Halloween when she became upset because Tania talked back to her.
Police said Farrington lured the victim and her brother into her bedroom and then suffocated Tania with a pillow.
Authorities said Farrington hid her daughter's body in the trunk of her 2013 Nissan Altima for several days.
According to the arrest report, Farrington noticed that a foul odor was coming from her trunk on Sunday, so she removed the body and placed it into a dumpster.