A New London, Connecticut, mother has been charged with murder after she allegedly strangled her 4-year-old son to death, police announced Sunday.
Police responded to a call about a female hitting a car with a bat around 6:27 a.m. Sunday, New London Police said in a Facebook post. While police spoke to the vehicle owner, the suspect, 33-year-old Tiffany Farrauto, approached officers and informed them she had hurt her son and that he was in her apartment, according to police.
Police went to the apartment and found an “unconscious and unresponsive young male child.”
“I talked to the officers [that] first arrived at the scene,” New London Police Chief Peter Reichard said in a press conference, according to CNN. “They were choked up by – all of them there have two children. A couple of them have children the same age, and it hits home, it hits you right in the guts.”
Officers began performing CPR before emergency personnel arrived and transported the child to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital. The child was pronounced dead shortly after arrival, according to police. (RELATED: Suspect Who Killed Mother, 2 Children Before Fleeing With Infant Kills Himself)
“I then proceeded to the emergency room myself where several more [of] my officers and the entire emergency room staff were there,” Reichard said, according to CNN. “It hits home with them too and they do these things every day. It’s not easy.”
Farrauto was arrested on murder charges and risk of injury to a minor. She is currently being held on a $1 million bail.
New London Mayor Michael Passero said the city mourned the “tragic death” of the child and thanked first responders “for their heroic efforts to save a precious young life.”