Found Without Toenails, Her Murder Followed 12 School Reports to Child Services — Why Was No One Able to Stop It? By Samira Asma-Sadeque

The family of a 10-year-old girl whom authorities believe was “tortured” before being found unresponsive on the side of a highway say child welfare officials missed crucial points that could have helped save the child — and are now demanding accountability.

Rebekah Baptiste, 10, died on July 30, three days after she was found unresponsive at the intersection of two highways, police in Holbrook, Ariz., previously said, per AZ Family, ABC 15 and 12 News.

Her father, 32-year-old Richard Baptiste, and his 29-year-old girlfriend Anicia Woods were arrested in connection with her death, according to the Apache County Sheriff’s Office.

Rebekah was found dehydrated and malnourished by responding officers, prosecutors said in court on Monday, Aug. 4, according to AZ Family and ABC 15. The child was missing her toenails when she was found.

The condition she was found in prompted medical personnel to determine she was “tortured,” with signs indicating she may have been subjec to physical and sexual abuse, prosecutors said, according to AZ Family.

Rebekah’s uncle, Damon Hawkins, told AZ Family she was “black and blue from her head to toe” and had two black eyes when she was found.

Meanwhile, Empower College Prep, which Rebekah attended along with her two siblings, says staff called the Department of Child Safety on Rebekah’s behalf 12 times between November 2023 and January 2025 — including three calls in less than a week in January, ABC 15 reported.

An official with DCS disputes the number and told PEOPLE in a statement they had received only 5 calls from the school in the past year.

In their statement to PEOPLE, child services officials said of the five calls they have on their records, there was only one occasion when the allegations fit the criteria for a statutory report.

“The other four times the Department was not able to investigate the allegations because they did not meet the statutory threshold for abuse or neglect,” they said in the statement. “We do not have any records that a relative called the Hotline after 2019 to allege abuse or neglect of Rebekah or her siblings.”

The department did not respond to further inquiries from PEOPLE about why the allegations made by the school did not fall under their criteria.

DCS’ Safety Analysis Review Team will be conducting a thorough review of this case, the agency said, with the goal to “identify and understand any systemic barriers that may have influenced the outcome, and to implement data-driven systemic changes to prevent such tragedies in the future.”

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Baptiste and Woods have each been charged with first-degree murder and child abuse, according to Apache County court records reviewed by PEOPLE.

Court records did not indicate plea or attorney information for either of them.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.