Richard Baptiste and Anicia Woods are two alleged killers from Arizona who have been charged with the murder of Rebekah Baptiste
According to police reports Richard Baptiste and his girlfriend Anicia Woods would kidnap Richard’s daughter Rebekah Baptiste who was brought to a secluded location. Authorities would be called to the area regarding an unresponsive child call. The ten year old girl would be rushed to the hospital where she would die three days later. An autopsy would show that Rebekah manner of death was akin to torture
Richard Baptiste and Anicia Woods would be charged with murder and kidnapping regarding Rebekah and additional child abuse charges related to other children in the home
Richard Baptiste and Anicia Woods News
A 10-year-old girl has died after being found with “severe injuries,” according to the Apache County Sheriff’s Office.
On July 27, ACSO provided information stating that Holbrook police responded to the area near Highway 177 and Highway 180 for a young girl who was unresponsive
ABC15 was told the girl was taken to the Little Colorado Medical Center in Winslow, Arizona, for treatment before being flown to Phoenix Children’s hospital. ACSO confirmed the girl died on July 30, three days after the initial call.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s website lists the young girl as Rebekah Baptiste, but ACSO’s release did not confirm her name.
The sheriff’s office said they served multiple search warrants while investigating what happened to the little girl. Police later arrested 32-year-old Richard Baptitse and 29-year-old Anicia Woods on multiple charges, including first-degree murder and child abuse.
A complaint obtained by ABC15 shows prosecutors, at one point, requested Richard and Woods be held without bail.
Multiple family members identified Richard as Rebekah’s father, and Holbrook police told ABC15 that Richard also told their officers of the familial connection at the initial scene.
ACSO later confirmed to ABC15 that Richard is the father of Rebekah.
Richard Baptiste and Anicia Woods More News
The family of a 10-year-old girl who was murdered in Apache County is calling for accountability.
New disturbing details emerged from a courtroom Monday morning, revealing that 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste was “tortured,” doctors said. Her father and his longtime girlfriend are charged with her death.
Rebekah was found with “severe injuries” and unresponsive in Holbrook on July 27. She died three days later.
Rebekah’s father, Richard Baptiste, and his girlfriend, Anicia Woods, have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death. Authorities amended their indictment, charging the couple with child abuse for how they treated Rebekah’s two younger brothers.
In court, prosecutors said they had extensive documentation from doctors, detailing the abuse. They said Rebekah was malnourished and dehydrated. One doctor explained used the word “torture” to describe what happened to her.
Woods’ attorney said she and Richard Baptiste were romantically involved and intended to be married. Prosecutors said she acted as the children’s mother.
Damon Hawkins, Rebekah’s uncle, said he feels a broken system played a part in his niece’s brutal murder. “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,’” Hawkins said.
Hawkins said he can’t begin to imagine what she went through. “She was black and blue from her head to toe. She had two black eyes, and they’re thinking the cause of death was because of a hemorrhage,” Hawkins said.
He added that the medical examiner told him he won’t get the final ruling for up to a year.
During a court hearing Monday morning, prosecutors said Rebekah was missing toenails, had bruises all over her body, and had been starved. “The above findings are highly concerning for child physical abuse, sexual abuse and torture, which is a surprisingly shocking strong word for a medical doctor,” said the prosecutor.
Prosecutors added that Woods admitted to investigators that she hit the kids. Hawkins says he and his wife alerted DCS after they started to notice red flags.
He says on multiple occasions they tried to see Rebekah and her two younger brothers but were always turned away.
“She [Rebekah] was my biggest concern. The answer we always got was they’re kids, they’re in trouble. They’re in trouble,” Hawkins said.
The last time he saw the kids, he said he could see the fear in their eyes when it was time to go home.
“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. We got word of sexual abuse about a year and a half ago, and they [DCS] turned a blind eye to it.” Hawkins said, upset.
Hawkins said he understands he wasn’t Rebekah’s legal guardian, and getting answers will be a battle.
“It’s one day, one step at a time and all we can do is advocate for her and advocate for the kids that don’t have it and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Arizona’s Family Investigates also spoke with Empower College Prep, which confirmed all three children attended school there until May.
