A TEN-year-old girl leapt out of a window to escape her parents before they eventually tortured her to death, according to police.
Rebekah Baptiste was allegedly subjected to brutal beatings and sick “discipline” methods by her father, Richard Baptiste, 32, and his girlfriend, Anicia Woods, 29, according to court docs.
8
8
8
The young girl was found half-dead on a highway in Holbrook, Arizona, in July, after months of alleged abuse – including extreme exercise routines as punishment.
She was rushed to hospital but, despite the best efforts of staff, died days later from “non-accidental trauma”.
Doctors said there was evidence that Rebekah had suffered sexual abuse.
They also found “severe bruising throughout her body”, “possible cigarette burns” and “missing chunks of hair“.
Baptiste and Woods were arrested and charged with first degree murder and child abuse, according to court docs seen by Law & Crime.
They also stand accused of abusing Rebekah’s two siblings, aged eight and six, according to the documents.
Rebekah’s suffering was so extreme that she once “jumped out of the second-story window at their apartment in Phoenix” to escape the parents, according to prosecutors.
Her parents claimed “she was running away from us” to get “water and maybe find somebody” who could possibly help her, according to prosecutors.
Both the parents admitted to the use of exercise as punishment as well as “spanking and hitting the children with a belt on multiple occasions”, the court documents say.
They add that Baptiste admitted to using “excessive force” with the belt.
Rebekah and her younger siblings were forced into brutal exercise regimes including “laps and planks” around the home, prosecutors allege.
Teachers at the school Rebekah and her siblings attended until May saw the signs of abuse but the children would make up “stories to protect their parents” when asked, according to court documents.
“My mom was mad at me and accidentally scratched me,” the 8-year-old allegedly told an educator. “Never mind, she didn’t do that, I just fell.”
The Arizona Department of Child Safety had received dozens of complaints dating back to 2015 about Baptiste and Woods and was investigating them when Rebekah died.
8
8
On at least one occasion, the three kids had been removed from Baptiste’s home – but he later regained custody.
The family had moved from Phoenix to a rural area of Apache County three weeks before Rebekah’s alleged murder.
They were reportedly living in a Yurt without reliable electricity and no shower.
At the time of Rebekah’s death, the family was being investigated for an open complaint filed on May 19, according to a fatality report from the Director of Children’s Services (DCS)
The report says: “An investigation was initiated, and efforts were made to locate the family without success.
“The Department was continuing efforts to locate the family when the report of the near fatality incident was received.”
Alleged abuse against Rebekah’s siblings was the subject of that most recent complaint, according to the DCS.
The most recent report involving Rebekah herself was made on January 16 – alleging that Baptiste made the girl “run as a form of punishment, while not allowing her bathroom or water breaks”.
Rebekah’s uncle Damon Hawkins said the ten-year-old was “black and blue from her head to toe” and had two black eyes when she died.
8
8
Damon claimed he and his wife had alerted Child Services after noticing red flags but his reports were ignored.
He said: “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.”
Baptiste and Woods are expected to be tried together.
A judge set a bond of $1 million each and they remain in custody.
DCS said in a statement: “It is with a heavy heart that we acknowledge the death of Rebekah Baptiste, a child who was known to the Department.
“Any time a child in our community is harmed, it deeply affects us all.
“Our dedicated staff work tirelessly to ensure the safety of all children.
“Tragically, those who intend to harm children sometimes evade even the most robust systems designed to protect them.
“In response to this incident, the Department is actively collaborating with law enforcement in a joint investigation to ensure that the people responsible for this heinous act are brought to justice.
“The Department’s Safety Analysis Review Team will also be conducting a thorough review of this case to identify and understand any systemic barriers that may have influenced the outcome, and to implement changes as necessary.”
8
