CECIL COUNTY, Md. — Maryland State Police have positively identified the human remains found in a vacant lot in Cecil County as three-year-old Nola Dinkins.
The mother of Dinkins, who was at the center of an erroneous Amber Alert in Delaware, now faces murder charges.
RELATED: Mother confessed to beating daughter, leaving body in a suitcase overnight, court docs say
Darrian Randle, who lives in Cecil County, told Newark Police her daughter had been kidnapped by an armed man, prompting the Amber Alert.
Human remains positively identified as 3-year-old from Delaware
When police went to the home, Randle's boyfriend, Cedric Britten answered the door at the home and, when asked, showed security camera footage of the day Dinkins was reported missing.
The footage showed Randle getting into the car, but not Dinkins.
"[Nola] was never observed on camera," writes law enforcement in court documents.
Troopers searched the home, but the child was nowhere to be found. They then searched Britten's BMW.
In it they found a pink and white blanket with a smear that looked like blood. Britten denied the blanket was his, claiming it was given to him by a homeless man in the park.
During an interview with the mother, Randle confessed that the kidnapping story wasn't true.
She admitted to hitting Dinkins with a belt 15-20 times on Monday, leaving the child unresponsive.
Instead of seeking medical treatment, Randle placed Dinkins in a suitcase before ultimately dumping her body in a vacant lot off Dune Drive in North East.
According to charging documents, the next day Britten sent Randall a picture of a park for Randall to dump the body.
Britten drew a picture mapping out where the body was disposed, leading to its discovery.
Britten initially faced accessory counts related to the murder of Dinkins, but now a superseding indictment accuses Britten of first-degree child abuse resulting in death, which significantly raises the potential punishment if convicted.
Randle, at last check, remains in Delaware awaiting extradition to Maryland.
