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Rebekah Baptiste: Judge to rule on sealing autopsy
A motion has been filed to seal the autopsy report for 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste, following a court appearance on Aug. 17. FOX 10's Nicole Krasean reports.
PHOENIX - A new trial date has been set for April 2027 for the two people accused of murder in the death of 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste.
Big picture view:
Richard Baptiste, the young girl's father, and his girlfriend, Anicia Woods, are set to go before a jury in April 2027. The trial will take place nearly 21 months after Rebekah Baptiste died at Phoenix Children's Hospital after she was found severely injured and unresponsive in a remote area of northern Arizona.
Prosecutors say months of severe abuse led to the girl's death.
Richard Baptiste, and his girlfriend, Anicia Woods
Local perspective:
Richard and Anicia appeared in court on Aug. 17.
In court, lawyers shared that more than 100 witnesses will be called for the trial, and they anticipate the proceedings will last over a month.
Both the prosecution and the defense also shared that they have received the medical examiner's autopsy report for Rebekah Baptiste. A motion was filed for a protective order sealing that autopsy.
Dig deeper:
Court proceedings on Monday also revealed that one of the defendants has received an informal plea deal.
"There was an informal plea offer made to Mister Baptist," an official stated in court. "The state also informed Mr. Lee about that. There has been no plea offer to Miss Woods, nor will there be a plea offer to Miss Woods."
It is not clear why the informal plea deal was offered to one defendant but not the other.
What's next:
The judge will rule on the sealing of the autopsy by the end of the week if there are no objections.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from court statements, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and court filings.