By admin 
HOLBROOK, AZ (AZFamily) — This week marks one year since the tragic and brutal death of a 10-year-old child near Holbrook.
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Rebekah Baptiste was found unresponsive and seriously injured on the side of the road and later died. Her father and his girlfriend are charged with her murder.
Arizona’s Family has now learned that Rebekah’s biological mother is suing the Arizona Department of Child Safety, saying the agency failed to do its job.
In Rebekah’s mother’s wrongful death lawsuit, she says there were 19 reports of abuse, and DCS did not step in once to protect the child — cries for help that her mom says went ignored.
The 20-page lawsuit says that Rebekah was repeatedly tortured, sexually abused and eventually killed by her father Richard Baptiste and his girlfriend, Anicia Woods. Both are charged with murder.
Arizona’s Family has been investigating this case over the past year. We found each report made to DCS about Rebekah and concerns for her and the safety of her siblings didn’t meet the threshold for an investigation. DCS took the reports as “information only.”
The document lists each call for help, including the day and the details. There are 19 of them.
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A majority of the reports were from Rebekah’s school teachers and resource officers. The first report was in 2023, and the last report of abuse was just two months before she died.
In June, Arizona’s Family got a look at a time Rebekah escaped to a gas station begging for help. She showed officers bruises on her hands and feet, and she told police Woods hit her with a brush and a belt.
A Phoenix police officer took the photos and documented that it all matched up.
In a statement Thursday about the lawsuit, a spokesperson for DCS said, “The Arizona Department of Child Safety cannot comment on pending litigation. Rebekah Baptiste’s death was a tragedy, and protecting children from abuse and neglect remains our highest priority.”
The family’s lawyer was not available for an interview on camera but said details about the relationship between Rebekah and her biological mother are not being released right now. It’s unclear why she did not have custody of her daughter.
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