A legal complaint against the Arizona Department of Child Safety argues 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste’s death was a result of inactions by the state agency.
Rebekah’s father, Richard Daniel Baptiste and his girlfriend, Anicia Woods, were charged on suspicion of first-degree murder, kidnapping and three counts of child abuse in connection with the girl’s July 2025 death. She was found unresponsive with multiple injuries July 27, 2025, in a wash at the intersection of State Route 77 and U.S. Route 180 in Holbrook, 200 miles northeast of Phoenix, authorities said.
A wrongful death suit was filed July 24 — nearly a year after Rebekah died — in Maricopa County by the Phoenix-based personal injury law firm Gallagher & Kennedy on behalf of Rebekah’s mother,
Sandi Hawkins. The complaint claimed DCS not properly responding to a series of reports to the agency about Rebekah and her siblings’ alleged abuse in the Baptiste household is what ultimately cost the girl her life.
At the time of Rebekah's death, the girl was living with Richard Baptiste, who had custody of her, and Woods.
DCS enabled "prolonged child abuse and torture that ended with the death of Rebekah," the lawsuit states. "Rebekah did not slip through the cracks a single time. DCS returned her to danger, one intake at a time, until there was nothing left to save."
Agency spokesperson Darren DaRonco told The Arizona Republic on July 30 that DCS could not comment on pending litigation.
"Rebekah Baptiste’s death was a tragedy, and protecting children from abuse and neglect remains our highest priority," DaRonco said in a July 30 email.
A wounded Rebekah Baptiste pleaded for help just 8 months before death, DCS report says
Rebekah’s and her family’s residence were not known to DCS until she was located injured in the wash a few days before her death, the agency disclosed in 2025.
The suit stated that when she was hospitalized just before her death, a physician documented injuries and findings on Rebekah that prompted concerns of physical abuse, sexual abuse and torture. The girl was found with bloodied underwear, according to the complaint.
Rebekah's body, according to the suit, displayed a litany of signs of abuse:
- extensive bruising
- burns
- patterned whipping injuries
- torn hair
- missing toenails
- genital and rectal trauma
- severe malnutrition
- spinal compression fractures
- internal hemorrhages
- catastrophic brain swelling and herniation
Testing confirmed Rebekah had a total loss of cerebral blood flow, and she was pronounced dead the morning of July 30, 2025.
"Her death was the inevitable culmination of a danger DCS had been repeatedly asked, and was legally required, to stop," the lawsuit stated.
Rebekah tried to flee to safety, the lawsuit explained.
She ran away in October 2024 to a QuickTrip store, where she pleaded for help from a manager, prompting Phoenix police to photograph her bloodied lip and purple and red marks throughout different parts of her limbs, according to the lawsuit. Police and the Phoenix Children’s Hospital reported suspected physical abuse to DCS, which deemed the allegations unsubstantiated, according to the lawsuit. At the hospital, Rebekah said she was "whooped" with a brush and belt and forced to perform workouts, laps and planks, the suit stated.
The incident was among 19 instances Hawkins' lawyers laid out in the complaint as alleged child abuse and neglect between November 2023 and May 2025 and which the suit contends were not adequately handled by DCS.
“These reports were not isolated mistakes. They formed a continuous pattern of escalating danger that a reasonably functioning child-protection agency would have recognized and stopped,” the lawsuit stated.
Investigations suggest Rebekah Baptiste's life was marked by neglect, abuse
Concerns about Rebekah’s welfare at home started when she was a little more than 8 months old, with allegations about physical abuse beginning a year and a half prior to her death, according to DCS information disclosed in 2025.
DCS provided a timeline of allegations against adults in Rebekah's home life, some of which the agency said were substantiated:
- An August 2015 report of an unsubstantiated allegation that Richard Baptiste and Hawkins were possibly using drugs.
- A May 2016 report was dismissed after an investigation found a lack of evidence of a severe diaper rash and an unaddressed ear infection.
- A March 2019 report’s substantiated allegations that Rebekah and her siblings were being neglected by their parents led to the children’s removal from the home.
- Requests to the Maricopa County Superior Court between 2023 and 2024 for supervision over the children were dismissed upon Richard Baptiste regaining custody.
- Rebekah was being neglected by Richard Baptiste and Woods, two separate and unsubstantiated incidents from 2024 alleged. Woods was accused of physically abusing Rebekah's siblings and was then investigated on similar allegations related to the girl.
- A Jan. 16, 2025 report's allegations that Rebekah was punished by Richard Baptiste and Woods with no bathroom or water breaks were unsubstantiated.
- A May 19, 2025 report alleged Rebekah and her siblings were being physically abused by Woods.
The May 2015 report remained an ongoing investigation as the agency said an attempted visit to the family's Phoenix home went unanswered as they had moved to Concho in Apache County, and there was no updated contact information for them.
DCS was "actively collaborating with law enforcement" in a joint investigation "to ensure that the people responsible for this heinous act are brought to justice," DaRonco said in 2025.
DCS called out shortly after Rebekah Baptiste died; agency handled reports as 'information only'
Brian Holman, executive director at Rebekah's Phoenix school, Empower College Prep, said the school made 12 reports between November 2023 and January 2025 about suspected abuse and neglect of the girl and her siblings.
There were "visible physical markings, consistent reports of food deprivation, evidence of unreasonable punishment, and repeated indicators of both physical and emotional neglect," read a 2025 statement by Holman. "We firmly believe that this child’s death could have been prevented. The lack of timely and effective response from the Department of Child Safety demands accountability."
DCS said in 2025 that the school made five reports and one met the criteria for investigation.
"We acknowledge that over the years members of the community have contacted the DCS hotline in regards to the Baptiste family and have expressed frustration that some of their calls did not meet the legal criteria for an investigation or for removal of the children from the home," read a statement in 2025 from DCS.
The agency said in a lengthy statement in 2025 that a "present danger" is needed to take "the last and most extreme option" of removing a child from a home.
An assigned DCS supervisor visited the school once to investigate four reports, and the other eight reports were marked "information only," Holman said.
The lawsuit states: "By repeatedly classifying reports as 'Information Only,' failing to preserve or locate calls, failing to investigate, and leaving the children in danger, DCS adopted and implemented a practice of administrative nonintervention."
Have a news tip? Contact The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com at newstips@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: DCS failed Rebekah Baptiste, leading to AZ girl's death, suit argues
