In a harrowing incident, a courageous nine-year-old girl reportedly leaped from a second-story window of her residence, desperately seeking help from passersby to escape abuse. Tragically, despite her plea, she was returned to her home, where she met a fatal end just months later.
Rebekah Baptiste was discovered unresponsive on a highway in Holbrook, Arizona, on July 27, following what authorities believe were years of abuse and neglect.
Nine months prior to her death, Rebekah managed to escape her apartment by jumping from a second-floor window. She sought assistance by approaching strangers, but law enforcement, unfortunately, dismissed her claims and returned her to the custody of the very individuals now accused of her murder, according to reports by AZFamily.
Fleeing from her home, Rebekah made her way to a nearby gas station for refuge.
She entered a QuikTrip convenience store, where she confided in the manager, alleging that her stepmother, Anicia Woods, was responsible for her mistreatment.
Rebekah recounted how Woods punished her by forcing her to run laps and physically assaulted her with a brush, striking her on the back of her hand, as cited by ABC15.
The report read: ‘She also stated she was hit with a brush and a belt on her feet, and pointed out bruising and red marks on both of her feet,’ the report read.
The girl told police that she had escaped after getting into trouble with Woods, who thought Rebekah was pretending to be asleep.
Rebekah Baptiste, 10, died after being found unresponsive near a highway in Holbrook, Arizona, this July
Richard Baptiste, pictured, and his longtime girlfriend were charged with first–degree murder, aggravated assault, child abuse and kidnapping
Rebekah claimed Anicia Woods, her dad’s partner, made her run laps as a punishment and had ‘hit her with a brush on the back of her hand’
Rebekah disclosed this during a police interview at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital last October – after running away from home.
The hospital told the DCS about this incident after examining Rebekah, per the new report.
Rebekah also showed officers a bloody lip and marks on her fingers, in addition to her other injuries.
‘It has happened a lot,’ she said, according to the report.
During a court hearing in September, prosecutors described the girl’s dangerous escape from her parents.
‘She jumped from a two–story window in an apartment complex,’ Kole Soderquist, the Apache County deputy sheriff, said.
However, Rebekah’s parents denied abusing her and instead said she was self–harming.
In bodycam footage of when Rebekah was found, Woods told officers that the girl had tried to run away from home multiple times. Her dad Richard can seen on the left
According to the new police report, Rebekah ran away from home to a QuikTrip convenience store. She told the manager there that her stepmother was abusing her
Police concluded the case did not warrant criminal prosecution, citing conflicting accounts and a lack of witnesses. She was returned to the care of her father and stepmother, who prosecutors say continued with the same abuse Rebekah abused them of until the little girl was killed by it.
Starting in 2015, 12 reports were compiled about Rebekah’s safety before her death in July.
She was rushed to hospital, where she died three days later aged 10 with no family by her bedside from ‘non–accidental trauma’, per the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS).
Doctors said the Rebekah showed signs of sexual abuse, was ‘missing chunks of hair’, had ‘severe bruising throughout her body’ and ‘possible cigarette burns’ to her back.
Her father Richard Baptiste, 32, and his girlfriend Anicia Woods, 29, were arrested and charged with first–degree murder, aggravated assault, child abuse and kidnapping.
In bodycam footage of the moment police found the girl unresponsive, her stepmother Woods was seen telling officers about Rebekah’s attempt to escape.
‘She just ran away before we came up here,’ Woods said. ‘That one was super scary.’
Rebekah’s uncle Damon Hawkins said that she ‘was black and blue from her head to toe’ and had two black eyes at the time of her death
The stepmother added: ‘[Rebekah] jumped, she kicked out a screen and jumped out a good two–story window a week before we moved here.’
Prosecutors said Rebekah was running to a well to both get water and seek help.
Teachers at Empower College Prep in Phoenix – where Rebekah and her two younger brothers were enrolled until May – said the children invented ‘stories to protect their parents’ when questioned, according to court documents.
Prosecutors alleged that Woods and Richard, Rebekah’s father, admitted to hitting the children.
Her dad said he hit Rebekah ‘with the belt approximately 10 times, with a pain level between 1–10 at a 7.’ He said he had used ‘excessive force.’
Rebekah and her siblings had been removed from Baptiste’s home at least once in the past, although he then regained custody.
The family had moved from Phoenix to a rural area of Apache County – about 300 miles north – before Rebekah’s alleged murder.
Baptiste, 32, and Woods, 29, are scheduled to be back in court in January. Their trial is set for June
Her uncle, Damon Hawkins, said Rebekah ‘was black and blue from her head to toe’ and had two black eyes when she died.
Hawkins said he and his wife had alerted Child Services, but his reports – which included allegations of sexual abuse – had been ignored.
‘I made it clear to the investigator and DCS that the system failed her,’ he told AZFamily. ‘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 added: ‘We got word of sexual abuse about a year and a half ago, and they [DCS] turned a blind eye to it.’
Previously, the agency issued a statement after Rebekah’s death, saying that she was ‘a child who was known to the Department.’
‘Any time a child in our community is harmed, it deeply affects us all,’ the statement read.
‘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.’
The couple is scheduled to be back in court in January, with trial set for June.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Arizona Department of Child Safety for further comment.
