Stepmother's chilling 911 calls released 'after she tortured girl, 10, to death'
A stepmother accused of torturing a 10-year-old girl to death made a series of bizarre 911 calls before the youngster passed away.
Little Rebekah Baptiste was just 10 years old when she was found unresponsive at her home in Holbrook, Arizona on July 27. Prosecutors say she was the victim of a prolonged campaign of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the two people meant to care for her most.
When paramedics arrived, the signs of abuse were clear with her malnourished and battered body covered in bruises. She was rushed to hospital but died three days later without a single family member by her bedside. It comes after reports of a dad's desperate phone call moments before explosion kills him and his daughters.
Cops arrested her father Richard Baptiste and his partner Anicia Woods and charged them with first-degree murder, kidnapping and three counts of child abuse.
On the day of the little girl's death, records show Woods had called 911 to say she was taking her daughter to a hospital because she'd stopped breathing. The stepmother blamed Rebekah's breathing problems on her having run away in the desert.
In the calls, which seemed to lack an appropriate sense of urgency, Woods made the strange comment that she was "breathing for Rebekah". She was asked if she knew CPR, to which she replied: "Yes I do, unfortunately."
When asked what was wrong with the youngster, Woods said: "She's been running away, but when she ran away today and the neighbour found her. She's just been completely unresponsive, I'm sitting here giving her breath."
"We're going towards Holbrook. We're told there's an EMS station in Holbrook," she said before the call cut out.
The family lived in Hunt, a rural part of Arizona around 40 miles from where the first 911 call was made.
When she called back 17 minutes later, the call handler asked if the little girl was still breathing.
"I'm breathing for her," the stepmother said. The bizarre statement prompted the 911 operator to ask: "What do you mean?"
"I am putting my mouth around hers and breathing in her mouth, yes," Woods said, according to an audio file of the conversation published by KPHO.
She was told to pull over so paramedics could reach them, but the call disconnected.
Prosecutors said in a court hearing on Monday that the little girl had suffered severe injuries and was malnourished, had bruises all over her body and was missing toenails.
One doctor described what had happened to her as 'torture', prosecutors said. AZ Family reports prosecutors said Rebekah's condition showed signs of "child physical abuse, sexual abuse and torture'.
Two of the child abuse charges were in connection to alleged abuse of Rebekah's younger brothers.
The two boys are now in the custody of the state. Baptiste and Woods are being held on a $1million bond.
Since the girl's death, a row has erupted after Rebkah's uncle and an official at the school she attended both said the state could have done more to protect her. School staff said the children begged not to go home.
'They didn't do enough to protect her,' said Rebekah's uncle Damon Hawkins according to AZ Central. 'They absolutely failed.'
According to WCSC, he said: '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 haemorrhage.'
Rebekah's school said it called Arizona's Department of Child Safety (DCS) 12 times between November 2023 and January this year. But this was disputed by the DCS and a spokesperson told ABC15 that Empower College Prep called their hotline five times over the past year. The spokesperson also said only one of the allegations raised met their statutory criteria.
On the four other occasions, the DCS was "not able to investigate the allegations because they did not meet the statutory threshold for abuse or neglect', according to spokesperson Darren DaRonco.
"We take every call to our hotline seriously, but we only have the authority to initiate an investigation if the call meets statutory report criteria," Mr DaRonco said. "Rebekah deserved love, safety and a chance to thrive. There are no words that will make sense of the pain she endured or her life that was tragically cut short."
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Anicia Woods and Richard Baptiste have been accused of carrying out a prolonged campaign of cruel sexual and physical abuse that ultimately lead to the death of 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste in Holbrook, Arizona A stepmother accused of torturing a 10-year-old girl to death made a series of bizarre 911 calls before the youngster passed away. Little Rebekah Baptiste was just 10 years old when she was found unresponsive at her home in Holbrook, Arizona on July 27. Prosecutors say she was the victim of a prolonged campaign of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the two people meant to care for her most. When paramedics arrived, the signs of abuse were clear with her malnourished and battered body covered in bruises. She was rushed to hospital but died three days later without a single family member by her bedside. It comes after reports of a dad's desperate phone call moments before explosion kills him and his daughters. Cops arrested her father Richard Baptiste and his partner Anicia Woods and charged them with first-degree murder, kidnapping and three counts of child abuse. On the day of the little girl's death, records show Woods had called 911 to say she was taking her daughter to a hospital because she'd stopped breathing. The stepmother blamed Rebekah's breathing problems on her having run away in the desert. In the calls, which seemed to lack an appropriate sense of urgency, Woods made the strange comment that she was "breathing for Rebekah". She was asked if she knew CPR, to which she replied: "Yes I do, unfortunately." When asked what was wrong with the youngster, Woods said: "She's been running away, but when she ran away today and the neighbour found her. She's just been completely unresponsive, I'm sitting here giving her breath." "We're going towards Holbrook. We're told there's an EMS station in Holbrook," she said before the call cut out. The family lived in Hunt, a rural part of Arizona around 40 miles from where the first 911 call was made. When she called back 17 minutes later, the call handler asked if the little girl was still breathing. "I'm breathing for her," the stepmother said. The bizarre statement prompted the 911 operator to ask: "What do you mean?" "I am putting my mouth around hers and breathing in her mouth, yes," Woods said, according to an audio file of the conversation published by KPHO. She was told to pull over so paramedics could reach them, but the call disconnected. Prosecutors said in a court hearing on Monday that the little girl had suffered severe injuries and was malnourished, had bruises all over her body and was missing toenails. One doctor described what had happened to her as 'torture', prosecutors said. AZ Family reports prosecutors said Rebekah's condition showed signs of "child physical abuse, sexual abuse and torture'. Two of the child abuse charges were in connection to alleged abuse of Rebekah's younger brothers. The two boys are now in the custody of the state. Baptiste and Woods are being held on a $1million bond. Since the girl's death, a row has erupted after Rebkah's uncle and an official at the school she attended both said the state could have done more to protect her. School staff said the children begged not to go home. 'They didn't do enough to protect her,' said Rebekah's uncle Damon Hawkins according to AZ Central. 'They absolutely failed.' According to WCSC, he said: '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 haemorrhage.' Rebekah's school said it called Arizona's Department of Child Safety (DCS) 12 times between November 2023 and January this year. But this was disputed by the DCS and a spokesperson told ABC15 that Empower College Prep called their hotline five times over the past year. The spokesperson also said only one of the allegations raised met their statutory criteria. On the four other occasions, the DCS was "not able to investigate the allegations because they did not meet the statutory threshold for abuse or neglect', according to spokesperson Darren DaRonco. "We take every call to our hotline seriously, but we only have the authority to initiate an investigation if the call meets statutory report criteria," Mr DaRonco said. "Rebekah deserved love, safety and a chance to thrive. There are no words that will make sense of the pain she endured or her life that was tragically cut short."
