In 2002 9-year-old Tiana Martin was living with her aunt, Tamara Lynette Robinson, with her cousin and her 11-year-old and 13-year-old sisters. The five of them were living in an apartment complex in the 4400 block of West Avalon Ave. in Fresno, California. Their mother couldn't afford to take of them as she had lost her job.
On September 8, 2003, Tamara asked her sister-in-law to babysit the girls while she ran errands. All but Tiana arrived at the home and when asked the response was that she was out of town. Tamara then came home and acted upset asking where Tiana was. They then searched for the10-year-old and called the police and reported missing at 1:30 a.m. on September 9.
Tamara claimed that she last saw her at 7:30 a.m. the day before. Hours later Tamara was arrested and charged with two counts of felony corporal injury to a child and child endangerment. In documents, her sisters indicated that they were both abused. One of them had also told the school vice principal that Tamara killed Tiana.
Tiana had in fact been missing since either July or August. It was found that Tamara told people that Tiana was gone for the summer or back with her mother. She missed a July 7th appointment. Her sister went to a birthday party around the same time and friends thought it was strange Tiana wasn't there.
When the girls started school in late August. Tiana wasn't listed on her sibling's emergency contact forms as a sister and didn't fill out Tiana's card. She had also filled out forms for welfare and name her daughter and Tiana's sisters, but not her as dependants. She wrote down that Tiana went to live with her mother. This was not true though. Relatives of the girls began to question about Tiana and this was when Tamara decided to report her missing.
Sources said that Tamara beat Tiana to death. She claimed the girl was likely last seen in July 11th. She described the girl as a problem child and her sisters as liars. She said that one of the girls had actually hurt or killed Tiana after a fight about physical exercises.
Police believe Tamara had beaten Tiana to death. Her sisters were forced to help dispose of Tiana's body. Tiana was likely disposed of in a trash bin a week after her death and she had been her body would be at American Avenue Landfill in Fresno on American Avenue. Two weeks were spent searching for her remains at the landfill, but they weren't recovered.
Over a year later Tamara was charged with murder. At her trial, both of Tiana's sisters testified against her.
They stated at the trial that they watched their aunt strip Tiana down to her underwear. She then locked her in the hot garage without water for around 30 minutes. She then proceeded to hit the girls head against the wall and severely beat her with items such as a baseball bat, a meat tenderizer, a curtain rod, and a vacuum cleaner hose. She did this till Tiana was dead.
She then tried to revive the girl by doing CPR, but it was useless. She then realized she killed the girl had her sisters redress her and kept the body in the apartment for a week. She then had the girls help her with wrapping the body in plastic bags and put her in the apartment complex dumpster. She then poured bleach over the body to disguise the smell.
Tamara denied this, but in 2006 she was convicted of second-degree murder and felony child abuse. She was acquitted of child endangerment. She was sentenced 15 years to life in prison and was given three years of credit due to staying in jail during her trial.
Tiana was 10-years-old at the time and is African American. She was 5'5" and 80 lbs at the time. She had Graves Disease which is a rare autoimmune hyperthyroid disorder. Her condition did require close medical supervision and makes her physically weak. It's fatal without treatment.
SOURCES:
NamUs
Charley Project
Find a Grave
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