Death Penalty Sought For Mother Charged With Spring Valley Girl's Murder

EL CAJON, CA — Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against the adoptive mother of an 11-year-old Spring Valley girl who was allegedly starved and beaten over the course of several years, leading to her death.

The decision announced in court Tuesday, as well as in court filings dating back to June, means a jury would be tasked with deciding whether Leticia Diane McCormack, 53, is guilty of first-degree murder in the Aug. 30, 2022, death of Arabella McCormack, as well as whether she should face death or life in prison without the possibility of parole if she's found guilty.

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McCormack and her parents, Adella Tom, 74, and Stanley Tom, 79, are all facing charges that include murder, torture, and child abuse in connection with Arabella's death, as well as alleged abuse toward her two younger sisters. However, prosecutors will try the Toms separately and seek a maximum sentence of life without parole.

Both trials are slated to begin next year.

The trio were arrested in 2022 after law enforcement responded to the defendants' home and found the girl unresponsive on the floor.

Deputy District Attorney Meredith Pro said the girl was "severely emaciated" at the time of her death, weighing only 48 pounds, less than she weighed when she was 5 years old. She also had 15 healing bone fractures, which Pro alleged likely occurred within the last four months of her life. The two other girls were also emaciated, malnourished and in need of immediate medical care.

According to the prosecutor, Leticia McCormack was the "ringleader" in the alleged abuse, but the McCormacks and Toms "all worked together to starve" the children by withholding food and water and at other times, "physically abused them with paddles and sticks."

The prosecutor said the children were kept isolated to their bedrooms, not allowed to have friends, and were not allowed to use the bathroom when they needed to.

Pro also said communications between McCormack and her husband, Brian McCormack, indicated he thought Arabella "was starving to death and he believed she was going to die" in the days leading up to Aug. 30

Brian McCormack committed suicide as sheriff's deputies sought to speak with him shortly after Arabella's death.

Along with the criminal cases, the girl's death led to more than $31 million in civil settlements from the city and county of San Diego, along with other entities accused of failing to prevent or intervene in the abuse.

The settlements, which resolved a lawsuit brought on behalf of Arabella's sisters, included $10 million each from the city and county, $8.5 million from Pacific Coast Academy -- a home-school program whose teachers taught the girls -- and $3 million from Rock Church, where Leticia McCormack volunteered.

— City News Service