Mother, grandparents plead not guilty in 11-year-old girl’s death in Spring Valley
The victim, 11-year-old Aarabella McCormack, died Aug. 30; deputies had responded to a call about a child in distress at a Lakeview Drive home
EL CAJON —
Three family members accused in the death of an 11-year-old Spring Valley girl pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges including child abuse and torture.
Prosecutors say Leticia McCormack, 49, and her parents, Adella and Stanley Tom, abused and tortured McCormack’s three daughters for about five and a half years, leading up to the death of one of the girls, Aarabella, in late August, according to a complaint.
In addition to child abuse and torture, McCormack and her father were charged in El Cajon Superior Court with murder in the girl’s death.
McCormack and Stanley Tom, 75, each face 25 years to life in prison, plus two life terms if convicted. Adella Tom, 70, faces two life terms in prison if convicted.
Aarabella’s sisters, ages 6 and 7, survived and were placed with a foster family, according to sheriff’s Lt. Chris Steffen.
McCormack and her husband became foster parents to the girls in 2017, and the couple adopted them two years later, according to the girls’ biological family. Aarabella was pulled out of school after the girls were adopted, and all three girls were homeschooled, according to the family.
The girl’s first name is “Aarabella,” according to her biological mother. The child’s name appears as “Arabella” in county records.
On Aug. 30, sheriff’s deputies responded to a call around 2 a.m. about a child in distress at a home on Lakeview Drive. The child, later identified as Aarabella, was taken to a hospital, where she died.
Signs of child abuse prompted a homicide investigation. Steffen said Tuesday that the girl had suffered from “severe levels of malnourishment” and that her body had signs of bruising.
The girl’s father shot and killed himself the same day after he drove up to the scene in a pickup. Why the father— a 19-year veteran of the Border Patrol — killed himself and whether he was involved in the child abuse was unclear, Steffen said Tuesday.
McCormack and her parents were arrested Monday. They remain held without bail.
Outside of the courtroom Wednesday, Torriana Florey, the biological mother of the girls, said she lost custody of them to Child Protective Services because of a “domestic violence dispute” with their father. Florey said she also dealt with bipolar disorder.
“I couldn’t be the mom the courts wanted me to be, because I was learning,” Florey said. “Aarabella was my first daughter.”
Florey described her daughter as a beautiful, bubbly and loving child.
Florey said she plans to go to court to try to null the adoptions of Aarabella’s sisters and get custody. She said she hopes to be able to lay Aarabella to rest.
County records show that a Child Welfare Services investigation attributed the girl’s death to child abuse and neglect. County officials said other records were withheld at the request of the District Attorney’s Office, which claimed that the release of further information in the records “would jeopardize a criminal investigation or proceeding.”