Family Photo
“Sham investigations” by state child welfare workers emboldened Rica Rountree’s abusers to continue the abuse that led to her death in January 2019, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the child’s estate.
The 8-year-old Normal girl died of internal injuries linked to blows to her abdomen, according to an autopsy report that also noted more than 60 scars and marks on her body. The girl’s father, Richard Rountree, was convicted of child endangerment, and his girlfriend, Cynthia Baker, is serving a life sentence for murder. Both are named in the lawsuit that includes eight state workers, the Department of Children and Family Services and the State of Illinois.
Michael Reynolds / AP
The beating death of an 8-year-old Normal girl is the focus of a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday against six state child welfare workers, the child’s father and the woman serving life in prison for the child’s death.
Rica Rountree died in January 2019 of internal injuries caused by repeated blows she suffered while living with her father, Richard Rountree, and his girlfriend Cynthia Baker, in Normal. A jury convicted Baker of murder in November 2019; she was sentenced last month to life in prison.
Rountree was sentenced to eight years for child endangerment.
In a virtual news conference, nationally recognized civil rights lawyer Ben Crump and two members of his legal team said Rica’s constitutional rights were violated by the state, the Department of Children and Family Services and six DCFS workers who failed to protect her from ongoing physical abuse. The child’s father and Baker also are named as defendants in the complaint.