In the heart of Connecticut’s child welfare system, a chilling act of deception unfolded that exposed deep cracks in oversight and protection. On January 2025, Karla Garcia, the mother of 12-year-old Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-Garcia, orchestrated a video call with the Department of Children and Families (DCF). During this virtual welfare check, Garcia presented a child she claimed was her daughter Mimi, assuring officials that the girl was safe, homeschooled, and temporarily staying with relatives out of state. But Mimi had been dead for months, her body hidden away in a plastic storage bin, a victim of prolonged starvation and abuse. This brazen ruse, using a different child to impersonate the deceased girl, allowed Garcia to evade scrutiny and close the DCF case by March 2025. It wasn’t until October 8, 2025, when police uncovered Mimi’s decomposed remains behind an abandoned New Britain home, that the full horror emerged, sparking outrage over how such a tragedy slipped through the net.

Mimi’s story begins in January 2013, when she entered the world amid turmoil. Her mother, Karla Garcia, was in a detention center at the time, prompting DCF to intervene immediately. The newborn was placed with a paternal relative, who became her legal guardian through the Superior Court for Juvenile Matters. For the next nine years, Mimi lived under this relative’s care, often at her paternal grandmother’s home in New Britain. During this period, her parents—Karla Garcia and Victor Torres—had regular access, but the family was no stranger to DCF’s watchful eye. Services were provided intermittently from April 2014 to June 2016, and briefly in 2017 and 2021, following reports concerning Mimi’s younger siblings. These interventions focused on family support, but no substantiated abuse or neglect was found at the time.

By May 2022, when Mimi was nine, her parents sought to regain guardianship. DCF supported this move after a thorough review: interviewing the children, assessing the parents’ stability, and examining the family history. The court granted the reinstatement, and Mimi, along with her younger sibling, moved in with Karla, who lived separately from Victor. The transition seemed promising—Mimi enrolled in New Britain public schools, attending Chamberlain Elementary and later Pulaski Middle School. Teachers recalled her as a vibrant child, full of curiosity and warmth. DCF’s last direct interaction with Mimi came in September 2022, during an investigation into concerns about her younger siblings. Caseworkers visited the home, spoke with the children, and noted they appeared safe, engaged in school, and under regular medical care. With no evidence to warrant removal or further action, the case closed in November 2022.

For the next two years, DCF had no active involvement, a quiet period that belied the gathering storm. Mimi attended medical appointments in November 2022, November 2023, and as recently as May 2024, with providers raising no red flags. In June 2024, a family court awarded Karla sole custody of Mimi and her sister, a decision made without DCF’s input. This shift marked a turning point. Just months later, on August 26, 2024—the first day of the new school year—Karla withdrew Mimi from Pulaski Middle School. She cited a move to Farmington and submitted a notice of intent to homeschool her daughter. Under Connecticut law, this required minimal oversight: no curriculum approval, no testing, and no mandatory check-ins. Homeschooling, in this case, became a veil for isolation.

What followed in the Farmington apartment was a descent into nightmare. Karla, now living with her boyfriend Jonatan Nanita and their three young children, allegedly subjected Mimi to escalating cruelty. Court documents paint a grim picture: the girl was confined to a bedroom corner, forced to lie on absorbent pee pads like an animal. Zip ties restrained her wrists and ankles as punishment for perceived misbehavior. Nanita, described as the primary enforcer, directed much of the torment. In the two weeks leading up to September 19, 2024, they withheld food entirely, starving Mimi until her body gave out. An autopsy later revealed severe malnourishment—her frame skeletal, organs atrophied from prolonged deprivation. It was a deliberate, torturous end, with no signs of acute injury but clear evidence of sustained neglect.

Even in death, Mimi’s suffering continued in secrecy. Karla and Nanita placed her body in a plastic tote in the basement, where the odor of decay soon permeated the home, forcing the family to stay elsewhere temporarily. When they relocated to New Britain in March 2025, they transported the bin, eventually stashing it behind an abandoned property on Clark Street—a condemned house unfit for habitation since 2023. Karla’s sister, Jackelyn Garcia, who had briefly lived with them from June to August 2024 after her own prison release, witnessed some of the abuse. She received a photo from Karla showing Mimi zip-tied on a pee pad but did nothing to report it. Jackelyn, with her own history of child endangerment convictions, became complicit in the silence.

The deception peaked in January 2025, when DCF received fresh allegations about the mistreatment of Mimi’s younger sibling. Caseworkers, prioritizing a full family check, inquired about Mimi. Karla claimed she was thriving under homeschooling and visiting out-of-state relatives. To verify, DCF arranged a video call—likely via Zoom—where a child appeared on screen, presented as Mimi. The interaction raised no alarms; the girl seemed fine, and Karla’s assurances held. Satisfied, DCF noted no further concerns and closed the case two months later. Unbeknownst to them, Mimi had been dead since September, her remains rotting in hiding. Police later concluded that Karla had enlisted another child—possibly one of her younger ones—to impersonate Mimi, a calculated ploy to deflect scrutiny. This virtual ruse exploited the limitations of remote checks, especially amid post-pandemic shifts to digital interactions in child welfare.

The charade unraveled on October 8, 2025, thanks to an anonymous tip about suspicious movements at the Clark Street site. New Britain police arrived to find flickering lights and a plastic bin in the overgrown backyard. Inside were Mimi’s badly decomposed remains, identified through dental records and DNA. The discovery triggered a swift investigation: raids on the family’s former Farmington apartment yielded zip ties, pee pads, and digital evidence corroborating the abuse. Warrants for phone records revealed Karla’s confessions during police interviews on October 8 and 9—she admitted to the starvation and restraints, even jotting notes about appearing on a podcast to “tell her story.” Nanita was implicated in carrying the bin, and Jackelyn’s inaction sealed her fate.

Arrests followed rapidly. Karla Garcia, 29, and Jonatan Nanita, 30, were charged with murder with special circumstances, conspiracy to commit murder, and multiple counts of child cruelty. Each held on $5 million bonds, they pleaded not guilty at arraignments. Jackelyn Garcia, 28, faced charges of intentional cruelty to a child, risk of injury to a minor, and unlawful restraint, with a $1 million bond. All three have prior convictions: Karla for assault, Jackelyn for child endangerment, and Nanita for reckless endangerment. Mimi’s siblings were immediately placed in DCF custody for protection.

The case has ignited a firestorm of criticism toward DCF and Connecticut’s child welfare framework. Interim Commissioner Susan Hamilton launched an internal review, acknowledging the need to examine case decisions, policy adherence, and inter-agency communication. Lawmakers from both parties decried systemic failures: Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding and Senator Jason Perillo demanded details on the video call, questioning remote work in child protection roles. Children’s Committee co-chairs Ceci Maher and Corey Paris stated bluntly that “DCF failed her,” calling for comprehensive answers. Advocates highlighted broader issues—high caseworker turnover, underfunding, and a focus on family reunification over removal. The impersonation has fueled debates on virtual versus in-person checks, with some pushing for mandatory physical verifications.

Compounding the outrage is the role of homeschooling as a potential shield for abuse. Mimi’s withdrawal from school just before her death echoes other cases where lax regulations allowed isolation. Petitions for “Mimi’s Law” have surged, advocating periodic in-person welfare checks for homeschooled children, garnering thousands of signatures. The Office of the Child Advocate, currently leaderless after a resignation, is conducting its own probe, emphasizing known policy gaps. Homeschooling defenders argue the blame lies with DCF’s oversight lapses, not education choices, but the consensus grows for reform to prevent future tragedies.

Mimi’s father, Victor Torres, and stepmother Frances Melendez learned of her death from authorities, devastated after months of unanswered calls for visits. Victor, who shared custody earlier, recalled Mimi’s 12th birthday pleas going ignored. Relatives like her grandfather Felix Osorio and great-aunt Yaxi expressed shock at the custody shift, viewing it as a fatal error. Community vigils in New Britain and Farmington honor Mimi with candles and toys, her memory a catalyst for change.

This deception—a mother using a stand-in child to mask murder—underscores the fragility of safeguards meant to protect the vulnerable. Mimi, once a giggling schoolgirl dreaming big, became a statistic in a system strained by resources and deception. As trials loom into 2026, her story demands not just justice, but a reckoning: tighter homeschool oversight, robust DCF protocols, and a commitment to in-person vigilance. In the end, Mimi’s light, extinguished too soon, must illuminate paths to prevent others from fading into the shadows.