Two teenage women have been charged within the “heinous” homicide of a lacking 13-year-old woman who was discovered bludgeoned, stabbed and burned to loss of life.
Ka’Niyah Baker was discovered lifeless in a hearth at an unoccupied residence in Capital Heights, South Carolina, on Jan. 15, two days after she had been reported lacking, officers stated.
She “suffered traumatic injuries to her face and body and had been severely burned,” Columbia Police Chief “Skip Holbrook told a press conference, describing the murder as “heinous, vicious and monstrous.”
Though there was no proof on the house to determine the sufferer, police later realized it was the lacking woman.
As a result of “severe trauma to the head face and body,” authorities had to make use of the sheriff’s DNA lab to determine Baker because the sufferer, Richard County Coroner Naida Rutherford stated, including that the reason for her loss of life was blunt power trauma.
“This is a horrible homicide,” Rutherford stated. “Ka’Niyah was bludgeoned, stabbed and burned.”
Baker lately entered foster care in Columbia and had a “history of running away,” Holbrook stated.
Police arrested two feminine suspects, aged 15 and 16, and charged them with Baker’s homicide.
The 16-year-old suspect had additionally been reported lacking on Jan. 12.
She has a “history of disorderly conduct” and is needed by the Division of Juvenile Justice after “cutting off her ankle monitor.” The suspect is a “frequent runaway” who has not been at school since January 2024, Holbrook stated.
In the meantime, the 15-year-old suspect can also be a “frequent runaway” who was final enrolled at school in December 2024.
Authorities hope to prosecute the 2 teenagers charged as adults, Columbia Solicitor Byron E. Gipson stated.
