Police in Arizona have learned that a 10-year-old girl who died back on July 28, 2025, from severe abuse she suffered at the hands of her father and his girlfriend ran into a local gas station only months earlier, begging workers and customers there for help.
A new report on the death of Rebekah Baptiste indicates she ran away from home in October 2024, and when she came upon a gas station, she started approaching strangers, asking if anyone could help her, according to a report.
Richard Baptiste, 32, and his girlfriend, Anicia Woods, 29, are both charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, and child molestation stemming from Rebekah’s death. The unresponsive girl was brought into a hospital in Arizona’s Apache County, where doctors determined she died from “non-accidental trauma.” The day after she died, Richard and Woods were booked and detained for allegedly “torturing” the girl “to death,” according to police.
Court documents reviewed by Law & Crime detail the girl’s desperate bid for help on October 17, 2024. That day, police were called to the Phoenix Children’s Hospital where Rebekah had been taken after running to the gas station. Rebekah told the clerk on duty that she “was being abused by her stepmother.” Later, while speaking with officers, Rebekah said Woods “hit her on her hands and feet with a brush.”
It was revealed during a September 2025 court hearing the girl escaped the home by leaping from a second-story window. Before finding the gas station, Rebekah apparently approached a homeless person asking for help.
Rebekah told police Woods also hit her with a belt on her feet and showed the officers red marks she’d been left with. “It has happened a lot,” she told the cops. Police interviewed Woods, who denied hitting Rebekah, and Richard confirmed Woods’ claims that all of Rebekah’s injuries were self-inflicted.
As a result, the investigation into Rebekah’s allegations were closed.
Authorities were also made aware of possible abuse by the girl’s teachers, who also reported that Rebekah’s two siblings appeared to be victims of abuse. But the two other siblings failed to confirm the abuse to police, even though they had previously claimed Richard and Woods physically disciplined them by withholding food and forcing them to run laps and hold plank poses. The teachers allegedly saw visible “marks, scratches, or bruises” on all three children.
At the time of their most recent arrest, Richard and Woods were being investigated for an alleged incident reported in May 2025.
After her death, detectives allegedly found bloody paper towels in a trash can along with clumps of blonde hair.
Richard and Woods, who were living with the kids in a yurt in the desert, are both charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, and child molestation. They are currently awaiting trial in Apache County.
Reports claim officials responded to at least 12 reports regarding Rebekah’s safety.
If you suspect child abuse, please call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or visit ChildHelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential, and the hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
