Columbia PD arrests 2 in connection to death of Sumter teen
5th Judicial Circuit plans to prosecute teen suspects as adults
Chief William Holbrook with Columbia Police Department held a press conference on Saturday, Jan. 18, in Columbia to share details regarding the death of 13-year-old Ka’Niyah Baker of Sumter.
Baker was in foster care in Columbia at the time and was reported missing on Sunday, Jan. 12.
On Wednesday, Jan. 15, Columbia Fire Department responded to a structure fire at about 10:30 p.m. along Cardamon Court in Columbia. The fire was in one of the 72 vacant units on the 102-unit property. Firefighters arrived on scene to see smoke emitting from the building and located a deceased person inside on the floor, Holbrook said. Officers arrived and determined the deceased person to be a female who suffered “traumatic injuries to her face and body,” Holbrook said.
Richland County Coroner Nadia Rutherford explained that identifying minors can be difficult, as they have no DMV profile or fingerprints to match. In these cases, the coroner’s office starts with contacting local law enforcement for reports of missing teens. However, information received from Richland County Sheriff’s Office of missing teens “did not match what we had in front of us,” Rutherford said, stating Baker had been “bludgeoned, stabbed and burned.”
“Unfortunately, the description provided of Ka’Niyah Baker was so different, in fact, that even the pictures that they sent of her just did not seem to match up,” Rutherford explained. “Due to severe trauma to her head, face and body, visual identification just was not possible.”
DNA on clothing from Baker’s foster home and dental records were used to identify Baker. The manner of death was ruled a homicide caused by blunt-force trauma, Rutherford said.
“We’ve been up for days working this case and trying to find answers for this family,” Rutherford said. “No parent should have to bury a child.”
Rutherford also addressed speculation that Baker may have been pregnant at the time of her death. There was no visual indication during the autopsy that Baker was pregnant; however, the coroner’s office awaits further confirmation, she said.
The suspects, two females ages 16 and 15, whose names were not released, were arrested and charged with murder, according to Solicitor Byron Gipson of 5thJudicial Circuit Court. The 16-year-old has a record of disorderly conduct, malicious injury and throwing bodily fluids, Holbrook said. She was reported missing by her mother and wanted by South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice for cutting off her ankle monitor, both on Jan. 12.
Due to the nature of the crime, Gipson said there are plans to prosecute both suspects as adults.
“Brutal, heinous, vicious, gruesome, monstrous and disturbing – these are the words I use to describe this murder investigation,” Holbrook said.
“We don’t do [press conferences] a lot, but it seems like the common theme as we stand up here in the times that we do is we talk about the senseless violence that we see most often involving our young people,” Holbrook said. “This is gut-wrenching. I have watched how this has impacted our investigators, and I’ve also been moved by how they’ve maintained throughout this investigation. When you talk to people who have been involved in committing heinous crimes like this, you’re looking to seek answers and read their reactions, but sometimes when there’s no reaction is what’s most troubling.”
Holbrook hopes that as more details in this investigation are released, it sparks action in changing the state of youth in an effort to rid the community of the “despair” it feels.