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Who Is Noelani Robinson? Sad New Details About The Missing Toddler Who Was Found Dead

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Who Is Noelani Robinson? Sad New Details About The Missing Toddler Who Was Found Dead

Your parents are supposed to be the people who keep you safe. Sure, they might yell at you for hitting your brother or insist that you sit at the table until you finish your peas, but even when our parents are at their most stern, everyone who has ever been a kid knows that they are just being that way because they love you, care about, and want the best for you... and for some reason they see eating peas as being integral to that. 

Unfortunately, while this is how our parents are supposed to behave, not everyone is lucky enough to be born into a family with two parents who love and support them. Sometimes in fact, in the darkest cases, the parents who are supposed to be protecting their young with the ferocity of a lion can turn against their own offspring. That's something one family in Wisconsin is learning the hard way as they have been left reeling after a string of tragedies hit them right at home. 

A young single mother, Sierra Robinson and her 2-year-old daughter Noelani were a beauty to behold. The young mother glowed with her daughter in her arms, and just one peek at Noelani was all it took to see that this was a special, sweet, and lovely child. Both of their lives were cut tragically short because someone who was supposed to look out for them both decided that they had to do the unthinkable.

So who was Noelani Robinson? Here's what we know.

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The Shooting of Sierra Robinson 

On Monday, March 11, Sierra Robinson, a 24-year-old single mother, was shot and killed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

While the case is still unfolding, the primary suspect in the murder of Sierra and the wounding of an additional woman by gunshot is Dariaz Higgins, the father of her 2-year-old daughter, Noelani Robinson. 

According to a criminal case filed including interviews with the gunshot survivor, Higgins was a lot more than just the baby daddy. His past with Sierra was complicated and allegedly criminal. Higgins was Sierra’s pimp and had trafficked her. The survivor told police that Sierra and Higgins had been “messing around” when Sierra got pregnant, and Higgins briefly moved in with her, though he was her ex and was living elsewhere at the time of the crime. 

What The Eyewitness Saw

According to the complaint, Higgins agreed to meet on Monday to hand off their daughter, Noelani. The survivor said she went with Sierra to the meeting but the baby was nowhere to be seen. They “drove around, smoking weed, drinking, and talking about old times,” said the survivor. The survivor also noted that she spotted a gun similar to an AK-47 in Higgins' car. 

The survivor alleges that Higgins drove them to an apartment building where he claimed Noelani was waiting. She says that she and Sierra were walking ahead of Higgins toward the building when he opened fire on them both before eventually fleeing the scene. 

Higgins was tracked down and arrested for the crime on Wednesday, but they didn't find someone they'd be desperate to locate: Noelani, the little girl left without a mother, whose father is the prime suspect in her murder.

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Where Was Noelani? 

On Friday the 15th, a good Samaritan driving home from work in Milwaukee spotted something that they described as looking like a rolled up blanket on the side of the highway.  They got out of their car and decided to investigate. What they found stopped them cold and they contacted the police to come and take a closer look and that is when the identification was made: the young body wrapped up and discarded on the side of the road was the missing Noelani Robinson, for whom an AMBER alert had been issued. 

The medical examiner announced at a press conference held on Friday that the preliminary cause of death is being ruled as blunt force trauma to the head. The medical examiner also pointed out that there was existing evidence to support that the girl had been dead for about a day when she was finally discovered. 

While the police did announce that Higgins is a suspect and that they suspect he kidnapped Noelani after killing her mother, the case is in its early days before they can speak with any certainty about the issue. 

“That’s where the criminal investigation is shooting for. It’s just too early to tell. Obviously, we need the autopsy to assist us, the time of death and the venue. We believe we’re headed in that direction,” said police chief Alfonso Morales,

What To Know About Dariaz Higgins

Higgins has yet to be charged with Noelani's death, but with the evidence in the hands of the proper authorities, it seems like it is only a matter of time, really. 

Currently, he's been charged with first-degree intentional homicide and use of a dangerous weapon after the double shooting. He’s also been charged with first-degree recklessly endangering safety, and use of a dangerous weapon for Noelani’s abduction.

Hopefully, for the sake of the family Noelani and Sierra left behind, there is a speedy and just resolution to this horrific series of events. 

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Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. Her work focuses on relationships, pop culture and news. For more of her work, check out her Tumblr