Rika J Roundtree was born at 102 pm on April 16 2010 at St Joseph’s Hospital in Bloomington Illinois the daughter of Richard James Roundtree and antoinetta and garnetta Beasley now Simmons she was described as a beautiful bubbly and independent young girl Rico was the youngest of five siblings and the only girl as such she enjoyed playing with and teasing her older brothers Rika loved dolls and she enjoyed going to yard sales to buy strollers car seats bottles and even clothes for them she’d even request that

her mother buy diapers for them at the store Riga had a huge heart her dolls were her babies and she treated them as such however Rico was also a little girl that needed the same love and protection that she gave her dolls many of the events we’re about to discuss can be found on the state of Illinois’s DCFS timeline which I’ll have link for you in the description now on June 19 2014 DCFS allegedly got involved with the family after one of rika’s older brothers was sent to a psychiatric hospital after an altercation with Anne and another

sibling where the brother claimed to have been choked and thrown through a screen door this was on the official DCFS timeline but however a and disputes that this ever happened Ann claimed that DCFS became involved after the brother was seen outside holding cans which was Richard’s way of punishing the kids now I don’t know if you’re gonna be able to see me fully in frame for this but what do you do is he’d have them hold some canned vegetables or meat or whatever it was and they’d have to go and hold them out at their sides until their arms got

tired and they couldn’t drop them three months later on September 20th DCFS was involved yet again after Anne and James were found physically fighting in front of the kids both cases were ultimately closed as unfounded on October 21st 2015 DCFS was called to the home yet again after complaints surfaced regarding the parents putting their hands on one another in front of the kids this time it was Richard who was arrested and charged with DV but his charges were later dropped and just like the first two incidents DCFS closed the

case as unfounded rika’s parents split up in 2015 and later divorced during this time Anne’s alcohol use spiraled out of control in December the mother was cited for driving with a suspended license after running a stop sign a few days later she was involved in a head-on collision after driving on the wrong side of the road the mother of five was intoxicated at the time and was charged with aggravated DUI on the 18th of that same month Anne began receiving emergency cash assistance from Norman funds which is a program aimed at

at-risk families it was designed to help families obtain housing in Essentials so that parents would be able to keep their kids in their care in June of 2016 DCFS became involved once again after they received a call that Anne had instigated a fight between one of her sons and a neighbor’s child but just like multiple times in the past DCFS again closed the case as unfounded on April 13 2016 Court alleging that rika’s brother who was a minor S8 another child in another state now although this doesn’t necessarily pertain to Rica it is

important to note when giving a full timeline of events surrounding DCFS involvements and recently had lost her job at a financial institution in order to make ends meet for her kids she began selling drugs on September 29th two undercover agents purchased cocaine from Anne’s boyfriend Deontay Harper while Rika and her stepbrother were in the home this resulted in the two adults being arrested on various drug charges for which Anne received a 68-day jail sentence and for her boyfriend six years in prison Rico was sent to live with her

father and his new girlfriend Cynthia Cindy Marie Baker and her three kids according to Ann Richard had been seen Cindy on the side throughout their entire eight-year relationship rika’s brother Charles initially went to live with Richard and Cindy but was ultimately sent to live with family in Minnesota now according to Ann DCFS visited her home again in 2016 after her son allegedly threatened to take his own life she believes that Cindy was the one making those calls to DCFS in 2017 after Anne was released on probation and

regained visitation rights Rika began raising concerns about Cindy Anne stated that Rika was visibly fearful of the woman additionally Rika claimed that Cindy was whipping her with a belt her Father Richard allegedly was in on this too forcing Rika to stand for long periods of time while holding cans as punishments on July 23rd Ann contacted the police and while DCFS investigated Rika got to stay with her mother so for a moment she was safe that was until DCFS determined that rika’s claims were unfounded so she was returned to the

care of her father and his girlfriend by now Richard had obtained full custody of Rika by means of their divorce ruling according to Anne this is when rika’s Behavior started to change quote she was different she was more reserved she was really cautious about a lot of stuff whereas before she was Carefree end quote after DCFS failed both Rika and her mother and Richard began to disallow visitation Anne’s mental state understandably began to crumble in the fall of 2017 she was charged with battery and forgery on April 20th 2018

the mother decided to show up at her daughter’s school to visit with her now although she didn’t know it yet this would be the last time that she would see Rika in person Anne was shocked to see her daughter with a split lip black eye a broken tooth new and old scars on her neck a gash over her eye and her hair cut so short it was down to her scalp additionally Rika told her teacher that she was scared to go home again and filed a complaint when DCFS investigated Rika explained away her injuries as clumsy accidents at home

which included hitting herself in the eye on the medicine cabinet and falling into a drawer in the bedroom the little girl denied that anyone was hurting her and claimed that she wasn’t fearful of anyone in the home DCFS closed their case a second time in June of 2018 yet again citing Anne’s complaints as unfounded according to Anne in October of 2018 her ex-husband made it clear that he was done with his daughter the mother stated quote he was telling me I needed to find a knight in shining armor to save Rika because he didn’t want

nothing to do with her he didn’t want to pay child support he didn’t want visits he didn’t want to be her father he just wanted her to be adopted out so they didn’t have any obligation to her end quote around the same time things only got worse for Rika who was now a third grader staff at Rika School Fox Creek Elementary in Bloomington had provided the little girl with a winter coat as she had been showing up to school without one now for those not in the States Illinois and many of the states in the Rust Belt can get pretty chilly

in the late fall into the winter now you would think that Richard and Cindy would have been very thankful for this donation but you’d be wrong instead this kind gesture sparked an Irate response from Cindy in fact she barged into the school accusing staff of favoring Rika over her own daughter who was a kindergartner at the same school and who keep in mind already had a winter coat of her own after the coat incident Rika missed two days of school and later showed up on December 10th with two black eyes such the school staff contacted DCFS to

investigate Rika who no doubt was too scared to tell the truth once again told investigators that the injuries were accidental and that she had tripped over some toys and crashed into the toy box she also claimed that she missed school because she was sick you’d think the DCFS wouldn’t just take this at face value given the family’s history but they did in fact they took no action when Richard and Cindy refused to take Rika to the hospital for x-rays the little girl remained in the home and for the third time in 16 months a DCFS

investigation of both Richard and Cindy determined that the claims of harm done to Rica were completely unfounded after the school’s intervention over rika’s black eyes Cindy pulled her daughter and Rika from Fox Creek and enrolled them at Prairieland Elementary School in normal about a 20-minute Drive North which coincided with the family’s move to 407 Stanhope Lane in Normal Illinois the following day DCFS received a report alleging inadequate shelter and supervision with regards to rika’s 12 year old brother who had been living

with a relative out of state but by now had been sent back to live with Anne who at this point was homeless and in need of drug treatment on January 11th of 2019 DCFS appointed a temporary Guardian for her son after he was taken into custody this not bode well for Anne as she continued with her custody fight for Rika a judge determined that she was not making enough progress on the terms of her probation stemming from her aggravated DUI charge she was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for not completing her

probation and for her separate forgery case according to her judge her efforts to get back on track were quote too little too late end quote unfortunately it was also too little too late for Rika on January 25th 2019 Rico was taken by ambulance to Advocate Broman hospital after she became unresponsive after several days of stomach pain she had a large bruise on her abdomen and was ultimately transferred to OSF Saint Francis Hospital in Peoria Rika went into surgery for her internal injuries but sadly she died on the

operating table the following day reek around tree was just eight years old and found out about her daughter’s death and probably one of the worst ways a parent could less than three weeks into her prison term she was called in the chaplain’s office where the news was broken to her over the phone that same night a CPS investigator met with Richard and Cindy to discuss rika’s injuries and of course they both denied causing any harm to the little girl when interviewed separately Cindy told investigators that in the days leading

up to rika’s death she had vomited onto her dinner plate had trouble seeing and had almost fallen down the stairs however she had not sought medical attention as she claims Rika often faked being sick for attention Dr Matthew Fox who performed rikaze autopsy started off by counting the scars on her body Rika had 67 marks from head to toe but was the traumature abdomen that killed her Rika died from peritonitis caused by blunt force injury to her abdomen which was filled with blood according to an article from John Hopkins medicine

peritonitis is an inflammation of the lining of your stomach it is often caused by an infection from a hole in the bowel or a burst appendix you have to seek medical care right away as IV antibiotics are needed to treat the infection if not treated immediately peritonitis can be deadly in the wake of death DCFS released the following statement quote DCFS is deeply saddened by the loss of Rika Roundtree during her time with her father DCFS conducted multiple investigations into allegations of abuse and found these allegations to

be unfounded there was currently a pending investigation into this death and we are committed to understanding exactly what happened in this case and being fully transparent with the public DCFS is working closely with the new Administration to review our practices policies and procedures in order to fully live up to our mission to protect vulnerable children in Illinois end quote Richard and Cindy did not have a funeral service for Rika the little girl does not even have a proper obituary after her body was released by the

medical examiner Rika was sent to a funeral home in Galesburg to be cremated right away however before the Final Act could take place a second and more thorough autopsy was performed Richard and Cindy were quick to violate a no contact order that had been put in place by DCFS on January 31st stating that the parents were to have no contact with the surviving kids living in their home it is thought that they were possibly trying to make sure that everyone was on the same page and telling the same story four other kids lived in their home

which included Cindy’s 17 year old son her 15 year old daughter her six-year-old daughter Enrique’s one-year-old sister all were eventually removed from the home even though charges hadn’t been filed yet the two quickly lawyered up during the three-month investigation that followed investigators discovered cell phone videos documenting Cindy’s ongoing mistreatment of Rika one showed Cindy Dragon Rika by her neck into a bedroom to be punished another showed the girl naked shivering and soaking wet she had been forced to hold cans Richard’s

punishment of choice when her arms went limp Cindy slapped her on both sides of the face saying do I need to put a collar on you before wrapping her hands around the little girl’s neck and in yet another video Cindy needs Rika in the back before slamming her head against the wall at times the other kids in the house would laugh and taunt the little girl as Rika was essentially being made into a punching bag for the family’s enjoyment with Cindy’s teenage daughter being the main culprit and who was standing by filming and just watching

his young daughter take this type of punishment Richard Roundtree in April 2019 41 year old Cindy Baker was charged with three counts of homicide one count of aggravated domestic battery and one count of domestic battery of a minor in connection with rika’s death soon she was hit with several additional charges stemming from the torture that was captured on film Cindy was held on a one million dollar bail in the McLean County Jail she was accused of kicking Rika in the stomach causing internal injuries that slowly killed her however this was not

the first time that Cindy had run-ins with DCFS in 2002 she was found to have caused injuries to a stepchild and again in 2012 to her own daughter so if this was the case why were they so quick to label all three complaints as unfounded unfounded unfounded when it came to poor Rica in fact Rika was one of a hundred and twenty three children with contact with Illinois DCFS from July 1st 2018 to June 30th 2019 died within 12 months of that contact additionally the state of Illinois has the lowest foster care entry rate of any

state in the country Enrique’s case the key question is why authorities in 2016 sent the little girl to live with her father and his girlfriend especially given Cindy’s prior track record with the agency this further begs the question had police not found the videos of Rika being tortured on Cindy’s phone would she ever have been charged at all Cindy’s trial was due to start in October of 2019.

November due to a theory that Rika could have been injured injured in auto accident in Chicago in the weeks prior however when Cindy finally went to trial testimony from her own kids sealed her face her six-year-old daughter went into great detail as to how she had seen her mother kick Rika in the stomach on numerous occasions in addition to whipping her with a belt she said that her mother would laugh at Rika as the little girl cried in pain later Cindy’s 17 year old son took the stand and told the court that Rika often

complained of being hungry and wasn’t allowed to do the same things that the other kids were forensic pathologist Dr Scott Denton who performed rika’s second autopsy also testified he shared with the court that the little girl’s body was a literal crime scene additionally pediatric surgeon Charles abrahamian took the stand and talked about the day in January that he operated on Rika trying in vain save the little girl’s life she was dying and in his opinion her mortal wounds had occurred three to five days prior the surgeon also claimed that

he had only seen these types of injuries in the cases of blunt force abdominal trauma he said when Rika ultimately passed away Richard seemed confused distraught visibly sad but Cindy was remarkably calm and quiet rika’s third grade teacher described her as a go-getter but over a period of months that enthusiasm faded she would wear the same five oversized outfits over and over she remarked how Rika had dark spots on her stomach and that she walked like an 80 year old woman additionally graphic text messages between Cindy and Richard were shared in

court outlining some of the mistreatments that the little girl endured as well as the videos of her torture that were found on Cindy’s phone one of which lasted over 23 minutes in one text message between the two Cindy describes one of rika’s last days on this Earth where she spent the entire day crying on November 19 2019 Cindy was found guilty of first degree homicide first degree battery endangering the life of a minor and three counts of domestic battery it’s time for it to be over I was ready for it to be done with I’m very happy

that they went with the natural life I’m very happy that he denied all the Motions today she is currently serving life without the possibility of parole at the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln Illinois additionally Cindy’s sister Victoria Baker was charged with harassing Richard Roundtree Victoria acted as a courier delivering a letter from Cindy ahead of his anticipated testimony in her trial in the letter Cindy asked Richard to take full blame for everything she was later sentenced to 30 months probation in February of 2020 Richard

Roundtree pled guilty to charges of child endangerment and was sentenced to eight years in prison at the Shawnee Correctional Center in Vienna Illinois in an emotional Victim Impact statement read in court and told her ex-husband that she has forgiven him but she did not agree with the eight-year sentence she said and I quote whatever the sentence is it will never be enough Rico was eight years old and you are her dad you were supposed to be protecting her from the pain that you brought to her I feel like you deserve to die in prison

and in response Richard asks his public defender to read his brief statement directed at his ex-wife it read I should have protected her better and I’m sorry although Rika never had the funeral that she deserved in January of 2020 dozens of people gathered in front of 407 Stanhope Lane to pay their respects she was a free spirit she was smart one year Rica Roundtree was killed from a deadly blow to her stomach on Sunday her mom remembers her as an amazing child she didn’t take no for an answer if she wanted to do it she did do it she never

had any limitations she tried and she successfully succeeded in everything she wanted to do hundreds of balloons in rika’s favorite color were sent up into the sky just for her I just thought about you know my daughter receiving all of those balloons up in heaven I believe she is up there and don’t know what to do with all those balloons at all so she’s probably popping a couple of them and drawing on a couple many members of the Guardians of children were there to show their support an organization that helps

kids that have been abused we try to you know give them their their innocence back really that was taken away by somebody else it’s all about the kids so here we are antoinetta says she couldn’t believe the amount of people that showed up all to honor her daughter I people come out and it was just it was amazing on April 17 2021 Ann and her community honored Rika with a day of play to celebrate what would have been her 11th birthday the day prior family and friends enjoyed music games and face painting in the park all things

that Rika would have loved her death was horrible everybody knows all about that but Enrique likes to have fun she had so many years of just greatness left in her so I just want to do this to just be open show show happiness she says she hopes to make this an annual event and bring more children in the community together for a day of fun now you would think that after everything this poor little girl endured she’d have some semblance of Justice right well on October 6 2022 Richard Roundtree was released from the Illinois

Department of Corrections and placed on parole he served just two and a half years of his eight-year sentence and found this information out via email which he shared in the Facebook group Justice for Rika J where she is a contributor and to this day makes it her mission to hold DCFS accountable