Name: Zahra Baker.
Died: September 24, 2010.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Homicide, undetermined.
Location: Hickory, North Carolina, USA.
Disability: Leg amputee, hearing impairment, cancer survivor.
Details:
Zahra was born in Wagga-Wagga, Australia, and at five years old she survived bone cancer, though her leg had to be amputated. When she was eight, her father married an American woman and moved to North Carolina.
In the nine months before Zahra was reported missing, multiple reports of abuse came in to child protective services. Her mother took her out of school to “home-school” her.
More than a month after she went missing, Zahra’s body was found. It could not be determined how she died, but her stepmother admitted to killing her.
Case status:
Elisa Baker (Stepmother); pled guilty to murder; sentenced to 18 years. Sentence extended for 10 years on drug charges.
Source:
Murder of Zahra Baker