Newly uncovered police reports reveal that a 10-year-old Arizona girl, who was later found dead on a highway near Concho, had previously fled her home seeking assistance.
According to documents obtained by AZ Family, Rebekah Baptiste had run away from her residence in Phoenix nine months prior to her death, before her family relocated to Concho.
During her escape, medical professionals at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, alongside police, conducted interviews with Rebekah. She alleged that her father, Richard Baptiste, 32, and his girlfriend, Anicia Woods, 29, subjected her to torture.
As initially reported by CrimeOnline, Rebekah was discovered unresponsive by Holbrook police between Highways 77 and 180, near a campsite in Concho, in July. Despite medical efforts, she succumbed to her injuries days later at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Following these tragic events, authorities arrested Baptiste and Woods. They are currently facing charges of first-degree murder, child abuse, and child molestation.
The police report details how Rebekah bravely leaped out of her bedroom window and sprinted to a nearby store to seek help.
“[Rebekah] jumped from a two-story window in an apartment complex. She ran to at least one homeless person asking for help and then ran to the QT. She told the manager that she was being abused by her stepmother,” Kole Soderquist with the Apache County Sheriff’s Office said during a September court hearing.
“She had bruises from head to toe. There were injuries to her vaginal and anus area.”
Rebekah showed police signs of abuse, including bruising and a bloody lip. She told police she had been hit with brushes and belts and made to do strenuous exercises for “acting out,” FOX 10 reports.
During an interview with the parents, they both claimed the victim had been engaging in self harm and denied any form of abuse. Police returned Rebekah to the home, citing lack of witnesses.
However, over the past year, other family members and the staff at Empower College Prep said they filed reports to Arizona’s Department of Child Safety after concerns about Rebekah being abused, 12 News reports.
It took prosecutors months to gather evidence, but by that time, Rebekah was dead. A 36-page probable-cause affidavit from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office showed numerous times in which the abuse intensified, prompting the victim’s attempts to escape.
The suspects are being held on a $1 million bond each in the Apache County Jail.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have reportedly put together a bipartisan Child Abuse Task Force and are working toward reforms in the 2026 session.
[Feature Photo: Rebekah Baptiste/Handout]
