APACHE COUNTY — Police body camera video shows officers and medics trying to save 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste, who was later pronounced dead in a case prosecutors now describe as involving torture and long-term abuse.
The footage begins on a desolate stretch of highway in Apache County, where first responders met Richard Baptiste and Anicia Woods after a 911 call reported that Rebekah was unresponsive.
Baptiste and Woods told officers that a neighbor found her. But investigators quickly noted inconsistencies, including delays in the 911 call and the absence of basic first aid before authorities arrived.
Woods said in the bodycam video that she saw a “bulge in her chest,” “it was making me afraid,” she said, and she only thought to give the girl ‘rescue breaths’ instead of performing CPR. Woods cited sexually transmitted diseases as a reason she put a t-shirt over Rebeka’s mouth while performing rescue breaths.
Richard Baptiste explained that they just got the children back from the state, and Woods said that Rebekah was complaining about being abused by Baptiste and Woods to her therapist and DCS.
Despite the desperate efforts at the roadside and later at the hospital, Rebekah was declared brain dead. A medical report listed devastating injuries: blunt-force trauma to her head, burns, deep bruises, missing toenails, and signs of malnourishment. In open court, prosecutors described the findings as evidence of “torture.”
The case has reignited scrutiny of the state’s child protective system. Rebekah’s former school, Empower College Prep, says it alerted the Department of Child Safety (DCS) at least a dozen times with serious concerns of abuse.
DCS has launched an internal Safety Analysis Review, along with calls from lawmakers to overhaul the child protective system in Arizona.
Rebekah was laid to rest on August 18. Her death has sparked outrage and sorrow across Arizona, with many demanding answers as to why repeated warnings did not prevent what prosecutors allege was prolonged abuse leading to Rebekah’s death.
Bodycam footage of Richard Baptiste and Anicia Woods on July 27. First responders gave 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste CPR and transported her to the medical facility alone; she later died on July 30.
Baptiste and Woods’ next court date is September 4, 2025, in Apache County Superior Court.
