Rebekah Baptiste, Holbrook, Arizona 10 year old girl dies after dad’s torturing after CPS ignored pleas as Richard Baptiste & girlfriend, Anicia Woods face charges.
A 10-year-old girl has died after she was tortured by her father and his girlfriend, according to Arizona police.
Rebekah Baptiste was found unresponsive and severely injured in her Holbrook, AZ home on July 27. She died three days later in hospital officials announced.
‘She spent the last four days in the hospital by herself and the only thing DCS can say is, “I’m sorry you weren’t informed,”‘ said Rebekah’s uncle Damon Hawkins.
Red flags ignored by Child Protection Services
Rebekah was discovered ‘black and blue from her head to toe’ and had two black eyes according to the relative.
Doctors said Rebekah was malnourished and dehydrated and had been tortured, AZ Family reported.
Her father Richard Baptiste and his longtime girlfriend Anicia Woods were charged this week with first-degree murder for her death. Come Monday, the girl’s father appeared at an Apache County court to face initial hearings, as the pair at present are to be tried separately, ABC15 reported.
Rebekah’s uncle said he and his wife had alerted Child Services after noticing red flags with the relative saying his pleas for help were ignored.
‘I made it clear to the investigator and DCS that the system failed her. We have logs and logs of the times where, over the past years where they’ve been contacted, of the worry that we had,’ Hawkins said. ‘We got word of sexual abuse about a year and a half ago, and they [DCS] turned a blind eye to it.’
Calls for intervention were made but no action was taken
Dawkins said he repeatedly asked to see Rebeka and her siblings but was turned away by her guardians.
‘[Rebekah] was my biggest concern. The answer we always got was, “they’re kids, they’re in trouble. They’re in trouble,”‘ Hawkins said.
Dawkins said that the last time he saw the children, he could see fear in their eyes when it was time for them to go back home.
Richard Baptiste and Anicia Woods were also charged with child abuse over their treatment of his two younger sons.
Woods reportedly said she acted as the children’s mother and admitted to hitting them.
Rebekah and her two siblings attended Empower College Prep until May, the school confirmed, adding that they also tried alerting officials about Rebekah’s wellbeing.
‘Over the past year, our staff reported concerns of suspected abuse and neglect involving this child to the Department of Child Safety a total of 12 times,’ the school said in a statement sent to ABC15.
‘Despite our continued efforts and repeated calls for intervention, it does not appear that any meaningful action was taken.’
Baptiste and Woods are scheduled to appear in court on September 4.
A judge set a bond for each of them of $1million.
Stated Arizona’s Department of Child Safety in a released statement: ‘It is with a heavy heart that we acknowledge the death of Rebekah Baptiste, a child who was known to the Department. Anytime a child in our community is harmed, it deeply affects us all, especially when we know the family.
‘Our dedicated staff work tirelessly to ensure the safety of all children, but tragically, those who intend to harm children can sometimes evade even the most robust systems designed to protect them.’
