Sumter, South Carolina, Ka’Niyah Baker was found dead following a house fire on January 15, 2025. Authorities have arrested two teenage girls for the vicious murder of a 13-year-old girl.
They allegedly beat, stabbed, and burned her to death.
Highlights
- Ka’Niyah Baker was reported missing on January 12 and was last seen on Auburnleaf Drive in Hopkins on January 13.
- Authorities found her lifeless body following a house fire in a vacant residence in Capital Height on January 15, 2025.
- Police officers arrested two frequent runaway teenagers and charged them with arson, desecration of human remains, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
Ka’Niyah Baker’s tragic demise has deeply affected the Columbia community. Netizens came out to Columbia to pay their respect to her.
Columbia Police Department found her dead after a fire at 114 Cardamon Court, a vacant residence in Capital Heights, South Carolina, at around 10:30 p.m.
The fire department arrived to find smoke coming from inside the residence. They made entry and soon located a deceased person on the floor inside.
Skip Holbrook
Baker suffered traumatic injuries to her face and body and had been severely burned. No identification was found inside the home to identify her immediately.
She was reported missing on January 12. She was last seen on Auburnleaf Drive in Hopkins on January 13 and was believed to be in danger.
Her body was found 20 miles away from where she was previously reported missing from foster care.
With the help of a DNA lab, authorities ultimately determined that the victim was their missing juvenile. Her demise was blunt force trauma.
Ka’Niyah Baker’s Suspects Are Two Teenage Girls
Ka’Niyah Baker had a history of running away and had recently entered foster care in Columbia. She had recently purchased a phone and ran away from Auburnleaf Drive between midnight.
Police officers have arrested two teenage girls, one aged 15 and another 16. They are frequent runaways, and their last known addresses were in Columbia.
Columbia, South Carolina, the local police have taken into custody two teenage girls, aged 15 and 16, in connection with the brutal murder of 13-year-old Ka'Niyah Baker.
— RebelwithoutaReason (@RebelwoaReason) January 20, 2025
Ka'Niyah was discovered deceased in an abandoned home that had caught fire, where she had suffered from… pic.twitter.com/IgCwU83bcE
The 16-year-old, who has a history of disorderly conduct, was reported missing by her mother, and the Department of Juvenile Justice wanted her after cutting off her ankle monitor. She last attended high school in January 2024.
On the other hand, the 15-year-old suspect was last enrolled in high school in December 2024.
They are charged with arson, desecration of human remains, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
Columbia Police Chief indicated that the absence of parents in teenagers’ lives is a recurring signal of the senseless violence occurring in Columbia. He added more details about the situation are expected to come out.
Moreover, her twin sister is making sure her memory lives on. The Allen University Women’s Basketball team has honored Ka’Niyah’s memory in response to this heartbreaking event.
The community has rallied around her grieving family, holding vigils and memorials to pay tribute to her life.
Davon and Tavon Woods, the founders of the nonprofit Foster Kids Matter, paid their respects, walking near where she was found.
We can relate; we’ve been through the system, we’ve been through it, we got taken away at birth and it’s just so crazy. That’s why we do what we do. We’ve been through a lot; that’s why we go so hard with our movement and it’s just so sad, so heartbreaking that a kid had to go through that.
Tavon Woods
Nontheless, the Woods Twins plan to hold more events, one step at a time, in memory of Baker in 2025.
Ka’Niyah Baker’s Flyer Was Circulated Even After Her Death
On January 16, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department posted a missing person flyer for Ka’Niyah Baker even though she was reported missing on January 13.
The flyer mentioned she was believed to be in danger but was already dead at that time.
Authorities found her lifeless body on January 15 but didn’t identify her with DNA and dental records until the next day.
The young woman’s description matched a few other women who were reported as runaways or missing. So, the reason that the flyer went out for a missing teen, even though this person already deceased, was in the hopes that she was still alive and this was not her.
Naida Rutherford
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department began the search when they received the missing report.
An Amber Alert was not sent out because no vehicle was associated with her disappearance.
Later, while they were leading the investigation into Baker’s disappearance, they ran her DNA in the crime lab, which matched the lifeless victim.
Additional Information
- Ka’Niyah Baker was born in Sumter, South Carolina, on April 29, 2011.
- According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the number of homicides involving youths aged 12 to 17 nearly doubled, from 717 in 2018 to 1,409 in 2022.
- According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 93% of missing children are runaways.
