Two teenagers have been charged with the “heinous” murder of a missing 13-year-old girl who was found beaten, stabbed and burned to death.
Officials said Kaniya Baker was found dead in a fire in a vacant house in Capital Heights, South Carolina, on January 15, two days after she was reported missing.
She “suffered severe burns and trauma to her face and body,” Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said. spoke at a press conferencedescribed the murder as “heinous, vicious, and monstrous.”
There was no evidence in the house to identify the victim, but police later realized it was the missing girl.
Richard County Coroner Nida Rutherford said authorities had to use the sheriff's DNA lab to identify Baker as the victim because of the “severe trauma to the head and face.” It added that her cause of death was blunt force trauma.
“This is a horrific murder,” Rutherford said. “Kanya was beaten, stabbed and burned.”
Holbrook said Baker had recently entered foster care in Columbia and had a “history of running away.”
Police arrested two female suspects, ages 15 and 16, and charged them with Baker's murder.
The 16-year-old suspect was also reported missing on January 12th.
She has a “history of disorderly conduct” and is wanted by the Department of Juvenile Justice for “cutting off her ankle monitoring device.” Holbrook said the suspect is a “frequent runaway” and has not attended school since January 2024.
Meanwhile, the 15-year-old suspect is also a “frequent runaway” and last enrolled in school in December 2024.
Columbia attorney Byron E. Gipson said authorities hope to prosecute the two teens charged as adults.
