New details revealed in death of 11-year-old Spring Valley girl who prosecutors say was tortured, abused
The details were released before a San Diego Superior Court judge denied bail for two defendants in the case: Aarabella McCromack’s mother and grandmother
EL CAJON —
At 11 years old, Aarabella McCormack weighed just 48 pounds — less than what she weighed when she was 5, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
The girl was so emaciated “her bones protruded from her skin,” Deputy District Attorney Meredith Pro revealed in El Cajon Superior Court.
Pro said the girl’s parents and maternal grandparents were to blame, alleging they deprived the girl — and her two younger sisters — of food and water.
And it didn’t stop there. Pro said the adults also beat the girls with paddles and sticks.
In late August, Aarabella died.
The new details about the case were revealed during a bail hearing for two defendants accused in the girl’s death: her mother and grandmother.
Leticia McCormack and her parents, Adella Tom and Stanley Tom, pleaded not guilty earlier this month to charges of child abuse and torture. McCormack and Stanley Tom are also charged with murder in Aarabella’s death.
Stanley Tom previously waived his right to revisit his no-bail status.
Defense attorneys for McCormack and Adella Tom on Tuesday argued that their clients do not pose a threat to the public and have no prior criminal history.
After listening to the arguments, San Diego Superior Court Judge Kathleen Lewis ordered McCormack and her mother to remain in custody without bail.
Lewis said she believes the two defendants are a threat to the public, including Aarabella’s sisters, who survived.
“It occurred over a period of time apparently, which involves a great degree of callousness, if true,” Lewis said, adding that she was required to assume the allegations are true for the purposes of setting bail.
A criminal complaint alleges the abuse and torture occurred over the course of about five and a half years, leading up to Aarabella’s death.
If convicted, McCormack, 49, and Stanley Tom, 75, each face 25 years to life in prison, plus two life terms. Adella Tom, 70, faces two life terms in prison if convicted.
Aarabella’s father, Brian McCormack, a 19-year Border Patrol veteran, shot and killed himself the same day the girl died. If he were alive, he, too, would be charged in the case, Pro said Tuesday.
Leticia and Brian McCormack became foster parents to the girls in 2017, and the couple adopted them two years later. After they were adopted, they were homeschooled, according to their biological family. Their biological mother, who is not charged in the case and is not suspected in the girl’s death, has said the girl’s first name is “Aarabella.” Court records refer to her as “Arabella.”
About 2 a.m. on Aug. 30, deputies responded to a call of a child “in distress” at the McCormack’s home on Lakeview Drive.
Pro said Tuesday that Aarabella was found lying on the living room floor. She was pale, unresponsive and had no pulse.
There was bruising and lacerations to her body, and “her bones protruded from her skin,” Pro said. Investigators later learned she had also suffered 15 bone fractures that were still healing.
Her sisters, ages 6 and 7, also were emaciated. They spent three weeks in a hospital, where they were nourished so they could “grow and continue to survive,” Pro said.
During an investigation, text messages, photos, videos and witness statements revealed the girls’ parents and grandparents “worked together” to starve the girls, Pro said. She said the girls also were forced to perform “rigorous exercise,” isolated in their bedrooms and not allowed to use the bathroom at their will.
Several times during the days leading up to Aarabella’s death, her father “communicated” to his wife that Aarabella was “starving to death” and that he believed she would die, Pro said.
The girl did not receive any medical treatment in the four years before her death, Pro said.
Before the judge denied bail for Leticia McCormack and Adella Tom, their attorneys argued they do not pose a threat to others. The lawyers noted neither defendant has a criminal history and both were previously ordered to stay away from Aarabella’s sisters, who were placed with a foster family.
Gregory Garrison, McCormack’s attorney, asked the judge to set bail at $1 million. Randy Wagner, Tom’s attorney, asked the judge to set bail at $100,000.
Wagner noted his client’s age and described her as “frail.”
Garrison said McCormack was open to home detention with GPS monitoring and a court order requiring her to stay away from children. The attorney referenced McCormack’s volunteer work with Rock Church and said a few supporters from the church were present in the courtroom.
Stanley and Adella Tom previously volunteered with the San Diego Police Department as members of the Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol program. Volunteers with the program check on homes when owners are on vacation and regularly check on elderly residents.
In arguing against bail, the prosecutor said McCormack called the shots. As for Tom, she was strong enough to engage in physical abuse against the children, Pro argued.
Aarabella’s sisters have indicated they are afraid of the defendants, Pro said.
She noted that Leticia McCormack and Adella Tom were arrested outside of San Diego County, in the Lucerne Valley area of western San Bernardino County. In response, Garrison said they were staying with a friend to “get away from the trauma of these events.”