Lifestyle

Mum and Boyfriend Charged After Toddler Found Dead in Suitcase in Chilling Discovery

Published on July 15, 2025

In a truly heartbreaking and deeply disturbing case from the US, the remains of a three-year-old girl were found wrapped in cling film inside a suitcase, with her mother and the mum’s boyfriend now facing a string of serious charges, reported the Mirror.

Police in Maryland confirmed the child, identified as Nola Dinkins, was discovered on 11 July after an investigation led them to a grim scene. What they found has shocked the local community and beyond. Nola was reportedly beaten and left emaciated, her small body wrapped entirely in plastic and stuffed into a suitcase, hidden at the bottom of a stairwell in an abandoned property.

The child’s mother, Darrian Randle, had originally reported Nola missing, filing what now appears to have been a false kidnapping report. But not long after, suspicions mounted, and investigators turned their attention to Randle and her partner, 41-year-old Cedrick Antoine Britten.

When police visited Randle’s last known address in North East, Maryland, they encountered Britten, who allegedly handed over a hand-drawn map showing the location of Nola’s body. That detail alone has left many reeling, not least for what it suggests about his involvement or at least his knowledge of what had happened.

Randle is now facing multiple charges, including first- and second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse leading to death. Britten, though not accused of committing the physical abuse, has also been charged with 11 offences, including accessory to both counts of murder, after allegedly failing to report the incident to authorities.

According to reports from NeedToKnow, Randle confessed during police questioning that she had beaten Nola with a belt until she lost consciousness on 9 June. Shockingly, that was the day before she contacted police to falsely claim her daughter had been abducted.

In the aftermath of this tragic revelation, Nola’s father, Dominique Dinkins, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the costs of her funeral and legal support. At the time of writing, the fundraiser had reached around $9,350 of its $12,000 target.

In a deeply emotional post, Mr Dinkins described his daughter as “my one and only child” and spoke of the love and light she brought into the lives of everyone she met. He wrote, “As we face the heartbreaking task of saying goodbye, our family is coming together to honour Nola’s memory… Nola’s love and joy will never fade, and we will carry her memory forward, sharing her light with others just as she did with us.”

The case has left many shaken, not only because of the horrific circumstances of Nola’s death but because it allegedly came at the hands of the very people meant to protect her. Investigations are still ongoing, but for now, a community and a grieving father are left trying to make sense of a loss that should never have happened.

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