Man, woman charged after blaming 2-year-old for injuring child
A man and woman were arrested on child abuse charges a month apart after they blamed a 2-year-old for strangling her daughter, causing life-threatening injuries.
Starla Yi, 24, was arrested Aug. 22 after police received an anonymous tip that two small children were being abused at the Sportsman’s Manor Apartments, 5600 Boulder Highway, according to Yi’s arrest report. The ages of the children were redacted in the arrest report.
When Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived at the complex to check on Yi’s children, they found the girls so severely injured that they called for an ambulance to take them to a hospital, the report states.
Both of the girls were “somewhat dirty” and had multiple bruises across their bodies, according to the report. One girl had life-threatening injuries, including burst blood vessels on her face and eyes, that appear to be caused from being strangled.
Metro abuse and neglect detectives interviewed Yi and her boyfriend, Juan Tarin. According to their arrest reports, both told detectives that the girls were rough with each other and fell often.
Yi told police that some of the injuries occurred when she went to the bathroom and both girls “ended up at the table and both magically fell downwards,” the report states. She also said that the girls often ran into walls, and that a 2-year-old child was responsible for strangling Yi’s daughter hard enough to burst blood vessels in her eyes.
After speaking with the doctor who examined both girls at the hospital, detectives determined that neither girl was large or strong enough to cause life-threatening injuries.
Tarin, who is not the biological father of either child, appeared “distant and odd” when he spoke to police, providing “robotic or rehearsed answers” to questions about the girls’ injuries.
Yi was arrested, and a warrant was issued for Tarin’s arrest. He was booked on Sunday into the Clark County Detention Center, where both remain in custody awaiting a preliminary hearing on Oct. 15.
Yi and Tarin face five counts each of child abuse or neglect and two counts each of child abuse or neglect resulting in substantial bodily harm.
Both children are now in Child Protective Services custody.
Contact Max Michor at mmichor@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0365. Follow @MaxMichor on Twitter.
