Little Girl Begged for Help Before She Was Tortured to Death: Cops

A little girl in Arizona was so. desperate to get away from her dad and. stepmom that she ran away from home and. started begging random strangers [music]. at a gas station for help. Months later, 10-year-old Rebecca Baptist would be. dead. How long has it been since she's been. responsive? We don't know. She She ran. away and they found her in the the dirt. And now, a newly released police report. [music] gives us insight into the marks. officers apparently saw in Rebecca, what. her caregivers had to say about [music]. her abuse claims, and the alleged fatal.

mistake authorities made in returning. Rebecca to her home. We are taking. [music] a closer look at the latest. information with a former prosecutor who. has focused on crimes involving. children. Welcome to Sidebar, presented. by Law&Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Let me tell you something real quick. If. you think the crime stories like the one. I'm about to talk about are scary, wait. until you hear what's happening with. your personal data online. Yeah, your. name, your phone number, your address, it's all out there. It's easy for. anybody to find. But our sponsor,

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take your privacy back with Incogni, and. use code sidebar for 60% off an annual. plan. When paramedics were called out to the. side of an Arizona highway for a report. of an unresponsive child, the subsequent. investigation opened up a huge can of. worms involving alleged abuse against. Rebecca Baptist and her brothers. This. was an apparent lack of action on the. part of the Department of Child Safety. That is an argument, and there is now a. push for better accountability across.

the board. Now, Inishia Woods, often. referred to as Rebecca's stepmother, she. was the girlfriend of Rebecca's father, called 911 in July of 2025 reporting. that she and her long-time boyfriend, Richard Baptist, again, this is. Rebecca's father, were trying to get. help for an unresponsive 10-year-old. girl. Now, there was this explanation. that their family had just moved from. Phoenix to a rural part of Apache. County, so they didn't have cell phone. service at the yurt where they were. living. They didn't know the best route. to take to a hospital, so they just. started driving. But there were already.

red flags going up, especially when you. hear how Woods spoke with dispatchers. Do you know how to do CPR? Yes, I do, unfortunately. Are you. wanting to start CPR or are you waiting. for EMS? I'm waiting for them cuz I. TRIED TO GIVE her breath. So, EMTs, they met Woods and Baptist on. the side of the road. They see Rebecca. was lying unconscious near the car. Her. two younger brothers sat there. terrified. And as paramedics performed. CPR, an officer tried to get straight.

answers out of Baptist and Woods about. what happened here, but you can see on. the body cam footage that they're not. really much help. How long has it been. since you found her unresponsive? We. don't know. The neighbor brought her. They brought her to us this morning. >> When When did the neighbor bring her? It's 11:48. It had to have been probably. closer to 11. At least 30. What's your neighbor's name? I don't know. I I just moved out here.

Most of the people that Most of the. people that I know are relatives of my. my uncle who died. So, I'm still getting used to the people. Whose Whose child is that? It's mine. Okay. Is that hers, too? No. No, that's my. girlfriend. Do you have her ID? No. Her name's uh. Her name's Rebecca. I got to get her ID.

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you had my. phone number. You're good. It might have. been closer to Concho. We didn't know Concho had a facility. that would. be able to handle the child. >> Right. Well, EMS would be closer. That's That's why I was hauling ass to. was the EMS center down there, past uh. past the overpass. What's a good phone number for you?

And she's been running away for the last. like three or four weeks since we've. been here. Okay. She ran away this. morning. We went out and tried to find. her, and our neighbor found her. What. time this morning?

We got up about 9:30, so it would have. been closer to 10:30. So, you guys saw. her the night before? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we were all We all sleep in the. same same building. Okay. And then, so you said she ran away that. morning, and you guys were trying to. find her? Yeah, this morning. Yeah. Yeah, this morning. Yeah. And you guys. went out trying to find her, and then. your neighbors found her? >> The neighbor found her, yeah. >> Okay. What were they doing down there? How'd they find her? They were on quads. >> They were on their quads. Okay. And then. they brought her to you? Yeah. At your. house? Yeah. Well, it's technically was.

my great uncle's. He died recently, so. we moved in there. Okay. >> So, that's kind of how people know us up. there. >> Did she have any signs of life when she. got. when she got brought to you? She was. almost basically like this. She was. slightly responsive. She was still. breathing on her own, but What do you. Explain to me what you mean responsive. Like she was just breathing on her own. >> Breathing on her own. >> about it. And then as we were driving this way, started seeing color change in her lips, and we were just fucking hauling ass. Okay. You said you she. Yeah, she got that when she was in.

Phoenix. Okay. She um she ran away Did. you guys take her to get treated for it? Yes. She has a primary care, and then. she also did a 7-day stay down in. Phoenix. >> Okay. Not for not for that, but just for a. prior incident. >> Okay. And explain to me what you're. going through. You said she's diagnosed. with what? Explain that to me. Um. Okay. Um she's on or she was on three. medications before we left.

I I can't remember the third one right. now. Um but it's it's been a little bit of. since she's been on her medication since. we moved up here. So, according to the. couple, Rebecca had this apparent. history of behavioral problems and. running away. They claim that she was. supposed to be taking some sort of. medication, but that she hadn't been on. it for a few weeks because of the move. So, first responders, they rushed. Rebecca to multiple trauma centers.

trying to save her life, but she dies a. few days after they found her on the. side of the road. Baptist and Woods, they were arrested. They were eventually. charged with first-degree murder, child. abuse, molestation of a child. Investigators who spoke with Rebecca's. brothers determined that Rebecca was. likely not the couple's only victim. The. younger boys, referred to as KB1 and KB2. in court paperwork and hearings, they. allegedly experienced abuse, too. And as. news of Rebecca's tragic death and her. father and his girlfriend's arrest.

spread, records started to become public. that indicated or allegedly indicated. the Baptists had been a focus of the. Arizona Department of Child Safety for. quite some time. And now, what do we. have? Now, we have this newly released. police report that details the lengths. that Rebecca allegedly went to to try to. get away. The report seemingly. reinforces testimony given by the lead. case agent from the Apache County. Sheriff's Office, Cole Soderquist. So, RB had jumped out of a two-story window. in an apartment complex. She'd ran to at.

least one homeless person that she saw. asking for help and then ran to the QT. And when she ran, can you describe what. the QT is for those who may not know? The QuickTrip convenience store. And so, when she ran to the QT. convenience store, uh. did she provide any information? Yes, she had told the manager that she was. being abused by her stepmother, and so. he called the police. So, she She said that she was being.

abused by her stepmother, so law. enforcement was called. >> Yes. And so, at that time, based on your. review of the reports, did she give any. information as to what she meant by. abuse? I would have to refer to the report for. exact details. She was transported to Phoenix. Children's Hospital because of the. visible bruising, and she had told the. officers that she had to do planks and. run laps, as well as being hit on top of. her hands and feet with a brush. So, the release of this October incident.

report, it also calls attention to the. fact that at least 12 reports were made. to the Department of Child Safety over. the years. This is according to the. agency, and this raises obviously. concerns about Rebecca's safety. So, to. help me analyze this, the implications. of this latest information, could it. play into the criminal case, and what we. should be making of this, I want to. bring in practice professor of law, former child abuse prosecutor, Marian. Bracho. Thank you so much for taking the. time. Really appreciate it. I I think to. start off, when we hear about these.

allegations, and it is really tough to. try to understand that, right? You hear. about possible child abuse being. reported, nothing apparently being done. to keep her safe, she ends up dead. I. think it's important for our viewers to. understand, what is that relationship. between authorities, prosecutors, the state agency, right? DCS. investigators. What is that relationship. like? Yeah, and I That's a great. question and a great place to start and. I think that that is the.

the origin of likely a lot of. frustration that the public has with. public agencies like this. The fact that. the prosecutor's office acts on. information from police, police would. act on information that comes to them. from the agency or from school or from a. complainant if they have access to the. child themselves personally. Of course, the school acts on information from the. child which then gets passed along to. the agency. It it it feels like there is. a lot of whisper down the lane and a lot.

of administrative loopholes through. which children like Rebecca. can slip through the crack and that I. think is is where a lot of the. frustration and where a lot of the. child advocacy. calls for reform have originated. And. just to be clear, I know it might differ. state to state, but legally speaking, is. there an incentive, is there a priority, is there a standard for state agencies. to maintain the family, right? They. won't interfere, they won't take a child.

away unless it's. abundantly clear that child is being. abused. Is that like it there's an. there's a a priority to keep the family. together? Am I wrong about that? You are. not wrong about that and you're. absolutely right again that it does vary. state by state. In Arizona, if you look. at the language, the a primary goal or a. primary objective of DCS. is to keep families together. So, there. is. an inclination to not remove a child.

from from a caregiving parent or from a. biological parent unless there is an. imminent threat of abuse that is. substantiated and that's where the. language gets very circular and very. confusing and you know, frankly, where. a lot of these investigations end up. going cold. So, I want to go into this. The Phoenix police incident report which. was reviewed by Arizona media outlets, Arizona Family, Fox 10, ABC 15. It was. put together after Rebecca showed up at.

a gas station in October of 2024. So, this is about 9 months before she died. And she reportedly approached strangers. near the convenience store including a. homeless man begging for help, eventually telling the store manager. that her stepmother was abusing her. She. was taken to Phoenix Children's. Hospital. Eventually, she spoke with. police. Fox 10 reports that Rebecca had. a bloody lip, bruising on her hands and. feet. She claimed that Woods had. punished her for pretending to be. asleep. She said Woods made her run.

laps, hit her with a brush on the back. of her hand. The record reportedly. states the officer observed, quote, faint bruising and marks on the back of. both of her hands. 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. It has. happened a lot. Okay, Professor, I I I'm. a little confused here, right? So, if. this is documented and you're seeing. injuries, what would be the appropriate. course of action at this point in time? Is it just you take the injuries, you.

take the child's account, or does there. need to be and we'll talk about what. happened next, but does there need to be. verification from the alleged abuser? I. mean, what happens next in a in a. situation like this? Right. Well, there there doesn't. necessarily need to be an. acknowledgement or verification from the. alleged abuser. There does need to be. some finding of a substantiated imminent. threat. And what that means is again, that can. vary. In this particular instance, it could.

have meant that the case worker. observed abuse. physical assault or abusive behavior. happening in real time between Rebecca. and her father or stepmother. It could. mean that. the parents or the. again, the father or the stepmother were. not in a position to care for Rebecca. meaning that they were incarcerated or. hospitalized or otherwise incapacitated. or under the influence. of some intoxicating substance that.

would that would render them incapable. of caring or or attending to her. supporting care. But again, this is where it gets. circular. So, your your listeners and. your viewers are right to feel. frustrated to say, but you've got to be. kidding me. There are bruises. There are. indication that that this child maybe. was in a healing state, that she had. previously been injured and then nothing. happened from that point going forward. And you're absolutely right, but again, this is where the pass the buck might.

come into play where the agency can say, well, the legislature in Arizona has. told us that we can't do anything unless. the abuse is imminent meaning that it's. happening right now or it's going to. happen if I I have. probable cause to believe that this. abuse is going to happen if I return the. child at this moment on this occasion to. this caregiver. And again, the tendency. or the inclination is to keep these. families united. So, the agency is going.

to say until the legislature changes. their language, there's nothing we can. do to remove a child absent more. evidence. Let me just amplify that. because the outlets that reviewed this. report said that Woods actually was. interviewed by police, insisted that. this little girl, that Rebecca, was. actually hurting herself, right? That. this was a case of self-harm with a. brush the night before she ran away. According to police, the incident didn't. lead to any kind of criminal prosecution. because Rebecca provided, quote, various.

iterations of the story. So, there was, you know, apparently conflicting. accounts and Woods had swore that she. wasn't abusing the girl. The report. notes that there was no witnesses to any. physical discipline. Does that make. sense to you? I mean, again, no further. action because. this. I mean, she's a young witness to this. You see the bruises, but if you're. having the caregiver say, hey, listen, she's doing this to herself and we don't. have anything else to corroborate it,

that's it? From from a citizen's perspective, from. a human perspective, from certainly a. parent's perspective, this this is mind-boggling and. frustrating to me. From a legal and an. administrative perspective, unfortunately, the boxes are checked. here. Meaning that if police. investigated, if they had some other. explanation that was provided by an. otherwise ostensibly cooperative suspect. or targeted the investigation who.

provided an explanation saying that this. child engaged in self self-harm and that. that's where these injuries were coming. from. And then of course, to have a. young child and anyone who's worked with. child witnesses or who's worked with. with any child will know that that. children. do often have a hard time keeping a. narrative consistent, you know, telling. a straight story, that they maybe change. words or go through various iterations. That doesn't make the reporting. untruthful though. So, again, even when.

it comes to law enforcement. investigators, when they have one. ostensibly, allegedly valid explanation. from the adult suspect and then various. iterations from the would-be child. complainant, they're going to say, well, we don't have enough to hang our hat on. here to take this to a magistrate for an. affidavit or a warrant of probable cause. to arrest. So, we're going to refer this. back to child services and again, child. services says, well, we don't have a. substantiated complaint, so there's.

nothing we can do in terms of removal. And this is where that vicious cycle. comes in where everyone gets really. frustrated with administrative red tape. And here's the thing, ABC 15 notes that. the report mentions that the Arizona. Department of Child Safety had, quote, multiple previous incidents involving. Rebecca and her brothers. Apparently, the DCS investigator told authorities. that yes, there were multiple multiple. reports, but that this little girl was. doing this to herself and was then. blaming Woods. So, Professor, let me ask. you this as we go through this and we.

talk about were there warning signs, were there reports that could have been. followed up? Is a potential, first of all, can any of. this come into the criminal case. involving Baptist and Woods? Could they say, hey, listen, you know, look, this was investigated. Nobody thought anything bad was going. on. We're going to go forward with the. defense that any injury sustained were. result of this little girl. Is this. potentially evidence in a criminal case. as we think about it? So, I I can envision a world where both.

the defense and the prosecution want. this evidence in. It's it's what we call. other acts evidence. So, it's it's. it would be testimony or evidence about. instances outside of the day or this. specific occasion that caused Rebecca. her life. And so, the defense would want. it because again, it showed Woods to be. cooperative with the investigation. It. showed her sitting down with with police. and with investigators providing an. explanation. It showed repeatedly these.

social service agencies and law. enforcement saying, well, there's not. enough evidence and there's nothing we. can do which from a defense perspective, they could take to a jury and say, if. the police didn't have enough evidence. then, do we really have enough evidence. now to convict? Is that a winning argument? I'm not. sure. That would be up to a a jury to. listen to. But at the same time, I can. imagine a prosecutor saying, well, we. want this evidence in as well. We want. the jury to hear about these repeated. investigations, these repeated reports.

of abuse because there is what's what's. known as a course of conduct. We have. Woods and Rebecca's biological father. engaging in repeated behavior to. discipline, to punish, to torture, to. abuse this child. And that all goes into. what we would call the story of the case. to explain just how every. support in Rebecca's life or supposed. support in Rebecca's life really fell. through and allowed this to happen. Now,

the Phoenix Police Department, in fact, they confirmed that they made five. separate reports to DCS concerning the. children and none of those reports led. to criminal charges. August 2018, apparently it was a welfare check. You. had investigators contact DCS. December. 2023, there was a welfare check. Police. contacted DCS. Detectives also got in. touch with DCS. February 2024, police. reach out to the family for an. accidental injury. DCS was also.

contacted. November 2024, officers were. looking into this allegation, this claim. of child abuse and neglect. Detectives. notified DCS. April 2025, police. investigated a minor injury to child. Detectives who followed up, they then. contacted DCS. Professor, what stands. out to you about any of that? Is that. again, is this similar to what we're. talking about. as we're trying to understand that. relationship between authorities and DCS.

trying to investigate this? It is. alarming. Talk to me about those five separate. incidents from police. Well, I I think my my response and my. reaction to that is when is enough. enough? When is there enough of of a of. a concern for law enforcement and for. DCS to reach out to say an advocacy. group to have an advocate appointed to. this child, to have a guardian ad litem. even if there is no litigation pending. How how many times do police have to.

respond or how many reports does the. school need to make or how many reports. does DCS need to receive in order to. say, you know what? Something's not. right in this household. There is. something that that that is amiss and we. should keep a closer eye on it. So, instead of jumping immediately to child. removal, why are there not. different steps, different levels of DCS. involvement with a family instead of. just saying, well, here's a brochure, here are some social services that might. help you, which by the way have been.

found to be not particularly helpful to. families because the information. provided isn't isn't clear or perhaps. isn't written in in. suitable language or suitable reading. levels. But, instead of just passing off a sheet. of paper or saying, we can't jump to the. extreme step of removal, why are there. no intermediate steps to make sure that. someone is attending to Rebecca and. making sure that she is safe and. supported? And by the way, so it wasn't.

just this little girl who apparently. reported what was happening to her or. allegedly happening to her. You don't. only only have police, okay? Got to talk. about the school. So, administrators at. Rebecca's former school, this is Empower. College Prep, they revealed to 12 News. that the school had called the child. abuse hotline 12 times. Claimed that a. school resource officer observed. injuries during a home visit when. Rebecca was absent from school for a. long period of time. You have Natalina. Mariscal, the Empower's director of.

student services, who said that Rebecca. and her brothers had these bruises, black eye, complained of being hungry. She told 12 News, the fact that there. were clear marks on these students and. statements of feeling unsafe and again, what feels like nothing was done or. minimal intervention was done, it's just. a difficult pill to swallow. Now, DCS. has only acknowledged five. school-initiated contacts with only one. of those reports meeting the correct. criteria to open an investigation. The. department released a statement after.

Rebecca's death saying, "It is with a. heavy heart that we acknowledge the. death of Rebecca Baptist, a child who. was known to the department. Anytime a. child in our community is harmed, it. deeply affects us all, especially when. we know the family. Our dedicated staff. work tirelessly to ensure the safety of. all children, but tragically, those who. intend to harm children can sometimes. evade even the most robust systems. designed to protect them. In response to. this incident, the department is. actively collaborating with law. enforcement in a joint investigation to.

ensure that the people responsible for. this heinous act are brought to justice. Now, it goes on to say, "The department. would like to correct some information. made public by other sources related to. the death of Rebecca Baptist. According. to department records, Empower School. called the hotline five times in the. past year. In one time, the allegations. met statutory report criteria. 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. We do.

not have any records that a relative. called the hotline after 2019 to allege. abuse or neglect of Rebecca or her. siblings." Now, Professor, that was part. of the statement. Seems like there's. I don't know, my opinion, finger-pointing going on here. I guess. the two questions I have are A, what do you make of that statement and. and the idea of when they can actively. get involved? And B, what does it mean. that they cooperate with law enforcement. in an investigation? What does that look. like?

So, I I you're absolutely right when you. say, you know, a lot of finger-pointing. and and I might use the expression, you. know, passing the buck. So, it sounds a. lot like the school is saying, "We are. mandatory reporters. We did what we. needed to do. when we made the observations that we. made, when we had the concerns or the. suspicions that we had. We passed it on. to DCS." And DCS, again, is saying, "We. couldn't do what the public or what the. school wanted us to do because of the. statutory limitations that have been. placed on us and on our.

operations by the legislature, by the. Arizona State Legislature. And so, there. again is this cycle of saying, well, we. couldn't, we couldn't, we couldn't, we. couldn't act, we couldn't endeavor, we. couldn't advocate, we couldn't do the. thing that would have or could have. saved Rebecca's life. And so, you know, it sounds like at. every level the. investigators, the people, the the. systems that were in place and and were.

involved in investigating Rebe-. Rebecca's situation, you know, are essentially saying, "We. checked the boxes that we needed to. check. We fulfilled our obligations, you. know, met our threshold, really didn't. go above and beyond because we couldn't. statutorily, because our hands are. metaphorically bound by the language. that's out there in either again, the. state the state legislature or. in our operating functions.". Now, the state has reportedly launched.

an investigation into the Department of. Child Safety. They're plans to continue. the investigation in the new legislative. session. It's not just because of the. Baptist case, there appears to be maybe. apparent systemic problems. You have. State Representative Walter Blackman, State Representative Lisa Fink told ABC. 15 that DCS already knows there issues. with its child abuse hotline, that. there's long wait times, there are. missed calls, but the legislature wants. to get administrators on the record. under oath to explain what's being done. to address all this. There are series of.

hearings that are expected to start. soon. You have Representative Blackman. saying, "If we find anything that's. negligent, we will point that out. If we. find anything criminal, we're going to. refer those those criminal acts to the. Department of Justice.". What does that mean to you, Professor? What can realistically happen here? What does that mean to me, unfortunately, as a cynic, it it sounds. like a lot more administrative. go-arounds. It sounds like a lot more. administrative red tape. It sounds like, well, hold some hearings and. you know, do do some digging and find.

out where the holes in the system are. You know, hopefully on on a more. optimistic note, I can say I would. venture to say that this situation and. other children who have experienced the. same as Rebecca Baptist were not lost in. vain, that perhaps they serve as. the the catalyst to reform the system. and to improve the system so that other. children don't also slip through the. cracks and and. incur the same fate.

But, you know, at the at the same time, there are. resources and financial considerations. and political considerations and I'm I'm. hoping I'm hopeful. that this response, you know, by a. multi-party by a multi-agency. system isn't just to ward off the media. attention that's now on it because of. these current charges and that. eventually. those who really did neglect Rebecca. when she needed them most are called to.

task. What would be criminal? What would. be something that would be a potential. criminal charge? A cover-up? It it could certainly if there is. evidence of a cover-up, that could. certainly result in criminal charges. against individuals from DCS, against, you know, supervisors, against. administrators, against specific. caseworkers. There there have been other. instances of that, not necessarily in. Arizona specifically, in Pennsylvania I. can where I teach and practice, I can. think of one in particular, fairly. notorious case where DHS or same thing,

child protective workers were held. criminally. liable, criminally negligent for. failing to attend to the needs of a. dependent child. So, there is precedent. for that and there is certainly. standards that would allow for charging. for a criminally negligent oversight of. a dependent person. All right. Well, let's see what happens. I'll tell you.

we know what immediately happened. Baptist Woods, their criminal case, cuz. that's still going on. According to ABC. ABC 15, >> [music]. >> these co-defendants, they're scheduled. to go to trial in June. We'll see if. that happens. We'll see if deals are. reached beforehand. But, this is just. another layer to what is a very very. disturbing and tragic case. Professor. Miriam Baruch, thank you so much for. taking the time. Really appreciate it as. always. Thanks, Jesse. And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple.

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