Only three days before she died in a Phoenix hospital, 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste made one final, desperate bid to escape the “horrendous abuse” she was suffering at the hands of her father and his girlfriend.
Now, a chilling 911 call is pulling back the curtain on the last moments of her short life—painting a harrowing picture of repeated escape attempts, prolonged suffering, and a child protection system that, according to her family, turned a blind eye until it was too late.
A Final Attempt to Flee
On July 27, the Apache County Sheriff’s Office reported that Rebekah was found on a remote highway in Holbrook, northern Arizona. She was severely injured, unresponsive, and showing signs of long-term abuse. She was rushed to Phoenix Children’s Hospital but succumbed to her injuries three days later.
Family members describe Rebekah as “a bright light”—a lively, spirited girl who had been fighting for her life in more ways than one. According to a 36-page report from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, reviewed by Fox, she had been trying to escape from her father, 32-year-old Richard Baptiste, and his girlfriend, 29-year-old Anicia Woods, for months. Woods claimed the child “kept running away,” but records show this was not a one-off incident—it was a pattern of desperate attempts to get free.
The family had been living off-grid in a yurt since early July, after moving from Phoenix to the small community of Concho. There was no electricity, no running water, and no basic comforts—only thin mattresses to sleep on, and water hauled in jugs from a store 15 miles away.
In Phoenix, Rebekah had already leapt from a window in one escape attempt. After the move, she tried several more times to run. The last time was the same day she was discovered gravely injured and struggling to breathe.
Signs of ‘Torture’
According to investigators, Rebekah’s condition had deteriorated so drastically that she was too weak to drink from a straw. Woods, who claimed to have a nursing background, told authorities she believed the child “would be fine” and never sought medical attention.
Both adults initially denied knowing what had caused Rebekah’s condition. But doctors described what they saw as “torture.” Her injuries included a brain hemorrhage, burn marks, missing toenails and hair, deep cuts, bruises, and extensive trauma across her body.
Detectives were shown “horrendous photos” of the injuries. One officer noted that Rebekah’s father displayed no visible emotion when confronted with the images. In his report, the detective wrote:
“After seeing these photos, I knew there would be no way a father would not notice the extensive injuries on his daughter. It would be impossible in my mind for a father not to see these huge marks and bruises on his child.”
Eventually, Baptiste admitted to striking his daughter with a belt for running away but denied causing her head injuries. Investigators found bloody clothing inside the family’s tent.
Both Baptiste and Woods were arrested and now face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and three counts of child abuse. Two of those charges relate to alleged abuse of Rebekah’s younger brothers, who have since been placed in state custody.
A Family’s Pleas for Help Ignored
Rebekah’s uncle, Damon Hawkins, said he and his wife had repeatedly contacted Arizona’s Department of Child Safety (DCS) about their fears for the children’s safety.
“She was black and blue from head to toe. She had two black eyes. They think the cause of death was a hemorrhage,”
Hawkins told Arizona Family, adding that the system “failed her completely.”
He described seeing the fear in the children’s eyes the last time they were sent home. “I made it clear to the investigator and DCS that the system failed her. We have logs and logs of the times where, over the past years, they were contacted about our worries. We got word of sexual abuse about a year and a half ago, and they turned a blind eye to it.”
Hawkins was not the only one to raise alarms. Staff at Empower College Prep, the school Rebekah attended, say they reported concerns about her and her brothers to DCS 12 times between November 2023 and January 2025.
However, a DCS spokesperson claimed the agency’s records only show five calls from the school, with just one meeting the legal threshold for an investigation.
“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,”
said spokesperson Darren DaRonco.
Brian Holman, the school’s executive director, disputes that, saying the school was never told its reports failed to meet the threshold—and that at least 20 additional reports about the family were made by outside agencies.
The department has since confirmed that a review team will examine the case.
The Chilling 911 Call
When Rebekah was found, she was starving, dehydrated, and showing signs of prolonged abuse. In the 911 call from that day, a woman—referring to Rebekah as her daughter—sounds disturbingly calm as she recounts what happened.
“She ran away for the third time in a week in the desert, and when the neighbors found her in the wash, she was unresponsive completely,”
the woman says.
“This is like the third time now, and she still hasn’t even, like, really bounced back from the first time. But when the neighbor found her, they said she was just almost gasping.”
The caller explains that by the time Rebekah was brought back to the house, she was “barely breathing.” Asked by the dispatcher if she knew CPR, she replied, “Yes, I do, unfortunately.” Sirens can be heard in the background as the call ends.
In a heartbreaking Facebook tribute, Hawkins wrote:
“You didn’t deserve any of this… I will forever miss you my peanut, and I am so, so sorry I couldn’t be there to protect you from those evil monsters.”
For many, the details of Rebekah’s final days have become a sobering reminder of how easily children can fall through the cracks. Her story now stands as both a cry for justice and a demand for change in a system that failed to protect her when she needed it most.
