“Brutal, heinous, vicious, gruesome, monstrous and disturbing: these are the words I’d use to describe this murder investigation,” said Columbia Police Chief William ‘Skip’ Holbrook after the girl’s body was found in a vacant home “structure fire.”
Two teenage girls have been arrested in relation to the death of a 13-year-old girl who was discovered inside an abandoned house on fire in Columbia, South Carolina.
Ka’Niyah Baker (pictured) had been reported missing January 12. Three days later, police found her body 20 miles from her last known location.
The vacant home was on fire with smoke “coming from inside the residence” when the fire department arrived at approximately 10:30 p.m. on January 15. Shortly thereafter, they found the body, per a Columbia Police Department press conference.
“The manner of death was not an accident and this is not a suicide,” said Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford to the press. “Ka’Niyah was bludgeoned, stabbed and burned.” Her cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma.
“Brutal, heinous, vicious, gruesome, monstrous and disturbing: these are the words I’d use to describe this murder investigation,” said Columbia Police Chief Williams “Skip” Holbrook.
According to Rutherford, due to the state of Baker’s body, it took DNA evidence to finally identify her and prove she was the missing child being sought by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, after she was reported last seen in the Hopkins area January 13.
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“We expect to pursue justice in this matter,” said Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson.
Baker and both suspects, a 15-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl, had a history of being “runaways,” according to Holbrook. He said that each of them had gone missing within the past two months.
Baker had been living in foster care in Columbia prior to her arrest, per the police chief. Both of the suspects most recent addresses were also known to be in Columbia.
The 16-year-old was reported missing on January 12, as well.
“She has a history of disorderly conduct, malicious injury, throwing bodily fluids,” Holbrook said in the press conference. “she was wanted by the Department of Juvenile Justice [in Georgia] for cutting off her ankle monitor around Jan. 12.”
He went on to note, “She was last enrolled in a local high school in January 2024 and she’s currently listed as dropped out and she is a frequent runaway.”
He also offered some details on the 15-year-old suspect, saying that she “was enrolled in a local high school as of last December. She is currently listed as dropped out and she also is a frequent runaway.”
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Neither suspect has been identified, but Gipson did tell reporters that his office intends to petition the family court to charge them both as adults, per CBS affiliate WLTX.
The police chief explained that while they do not have a motive, they are in the process of interview the suspects. “When you talk to people that have been involved in committing heinous crimes like this, you’re looking to seek answers and read their reactions,” he explained. “But sometimes, it’s when there are no reactions is what’s most troubling.”
He also spoke more generally about all three teens involved in this tragic case. “This shocks the conscience to me,” he told reporters. “We’ve got some work to do with our system. We’ve got some work to do with our young people. There’s too much despair. And we’ve got to change that.”
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