A Maryland mother has been convicted of murdering her 3-year-old daughter and concealing her body inside a suitcase.
On Monday, June 8, Darrian Randle was found guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of child abuse resulting in the death of her daughter, Nola Dinkins, whom she had reported as kidnapped in June 2025, according to CBS News Baltimore and Delaware Online.
On June 10, 2025, Randle, 32, claimed that an unknown white male had abducted her daughter at gunpoint in New Castle County. Authorities charged her the following day after determining her account was false, per the New Castle County Police and Maryland State Police (MSP).
Officers discovered Nola’s emaciated body wrapped in plastic inside a suitcase. She was killed on June 9, 2025, at a home in North East, Md., where Randle’s boyfriend, Cedrick Britten, was staying, according to court documents obtained by Delaware Online.
Randle is accused of beating her daughter to death and concealing her body in a suitcase with Britten’s help. Britten, 44, was charged with accessory to first and second-degree murder in connection with the case in June 2025, per CBS News Baltimore.
Randle allegedly struck her daughter more than 20 times until she collapsed. Britten then attempted CPR on Nola, but she could not be revived. The couple then drove the girl’s “emaciated body” in Britten’s 2019 BMW before returning home and placing her in a suitcase, per Delaware Online, citing court documents.
The couple left the suitcase on their basement steps overnight. Randle allegedly asked Britten the following morning to move the suitcase elsewhere. Officers later recovered it, with Nola’s body still inside, in a vacant lot near Britten’s property.
The MSP said in a June 11, 2025, news release, “The New Castle County Division of Police requested Maryland State Police to respond to Randle’s last known address in North East, where they made contact with Britten. Further investigation led to potential criminal activity, which subsequently led to the recovery of human remains in a vacant lot in North East.”
“At 1:45 p.m. today, investigators from the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit located human remains consistent with that of a young child. Positive identification of the remains is pending autopsy results by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore,” the release continued.
During the initial investigation, Britten allegedly drew a map for police showing where Nola’s body could be found. Officers located her remains inside a suitcase, as WBAL-TV previously reported, citing charging documents.
Randle is scheduled to be sentenced in October 2026 and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole. Britten’s trial is set for August 2026, per CBS News Baltimore.