A trial date has been set in the Rebekah Baptiste murder case in Apache County.
The 10-year-old's dad, Richard Baptiste, and his girlfriend, Anicia Woods, are charged with her murder.
Rebekah was found severely injured in July in Holbrook and died days later. The Baptiste family had moved from the Valley to a yurt in rural Apache County.
At the end of September, Baptiste was appointed a new attorney after a conflict with his counsel.
In court on Monday, the parties involved discussed developments, including disclosure and the lack of an autopsy.
"We still don't have that and that's holding up you know the stance of our defense and everything until we know what the cause of death was," said Wood's attorney R. John Lee.
"With the circumstances, I think it's taking some additional time to review," said Prosecutor Lacee Collins. "They received the police reports and whatever else they need to look at before they make their final report."
Collins told the judge they have given a "very generic" update as the parties wait for the complete report.
Despite this, a trial date of June 2, 2026, was set. The trial is set to run through July 31, but could run shorter. The judge said court, during those dates, would be held Tuesday through Fridays.
Both Baptiste and Woods will be back in court on January 12.
DCS: STATE OF FAILURE
Rebekah’s case is one of three high-profile murders of children known to the Department of Child Safety.
ABC15 sat down with state Senator Carine Werner, the Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee.
"We had a meeting with Rebekah Baptiste's teachers and their social worker from their school," said Senator Werner. "And it was a productive meeting with DCS, I think that they were able to get a lot of things on the table."
She said because of Rebekah's case, they are looking at possible changes to the hotline and the information that is taken by case workers.
ABC15 is continuing to follow up with lawmakers, and our team anticipates the date of another stakeholder meeting being announced soon.
