NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut woman charged with killing her 4-year-old son has been ruled incompetent to stand trial and sent to the state’s maximum-security psychiatric hospital for treatment.
Tiffany Farrauto, 33, of New London, appeared in Superior Court on Tuesday. She is charged with murder and risk of injury to a child in the March 7 killing of her son, David Jasmin, at their home.
Judge Hillary Strackbein ordered Farrauto committed to Whiting Forensic Hospital in Middletown for 60 days to see if treatment can restore her to competency. A state clinical social worker told the judge Farrauto has psychiatric symptoms, including a disorganized thought process and high levels of emotionality, The Day newspaper reported.
An arrest warrant affidavit released Tuesday said Farrauto told police she killed her son “to get back at her mother.” She also told officers she was “so excited” to have strangled the boy and tried to stuff CBD gummy candies in his mother, the affidavit said.
Farrauto’s lawyer, Aimee Mahon, recommended to the judge that Farrauto be declared unfit to stand trial and undergo mental health care.
The state Department of Children and Families said Farrauto contacted the agency shortly before the killing to report that an unknown person may have harmed the boy. The agency also said it helped Farrauto in 2017 in connection with substance abuse and child care issues.
The state child advocate’s office is reviewing the department’s dealings with Farrauto.
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