Leticia McCormack is scheduled for a 2027 trial over the death of her 11-year-old adopted daughter in Spring Valley.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — San Diego County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Leticia McCormack, the adoptive mother accused of murder and torture in the 2022 death of 11-year-old Arabella McCormack, adding the possibility of capital punishment to a criminal case that has been pending for four years.

The decision raises the stakes of McCormack’s scheduled August 2027 trial while leaving the central allegations for a jury to decide. McCormack has pleaded not guilty. Her parents, Stanley Tom and Adella Tom, are also charged in the case and have pleaded not guilty. They are scheduled for a separate trial in February 2027, with prosecutors seeking life without the possibility of parole rather than death for them. California continues to authorize death sentences, but executions remain halted under a moratorium imposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019. The state has not carried out an execution since 2006.

The prosecution’s decision is the latest turn in a case that began before dawn on Aug. 30, 2022, when San Diego County sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a child in distress at the family’s home in Spring Valley. Authorities said Arabella was taken to a hospital after being found unresponsive and later died. Investigators began examining possible child abuse, and the Sheriff’s Department’s homicide unit took over the case. Leticia McCormack and her parents were arrested about three months later. The criminal case has since expanded through a grand jury indictment that includes allegations of murder, conspiracy, child abuse and torture.

Prosecutors allege Arabella had been subjected to a prolonged pattern of deprivation and physical punishment before her death. They have said she weighed 48 pounds when she was taken to the hospital and was severely malnourished. Court proceedings and news reports on the case have described bruising and numerous healing fractures. Prosecutors also allege Arabella and her two younger sisters were deprived of food and water, denied bathroom access, isolated for long periods and forced to complete strenuous exercises. Those allegations have not been proven at trial, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted.

The case now involves more than the original allegations filed after the 2022 arrests. A grand jury indictment unsealed in 2025 accused McCormack, her parents and, as an alleged participant, her late husband of taking part in a broader conspiracy involving the treatment of the three girls. Reporting on the indictment said it listed hundreds of alleged overt acts that prosecutors say furthered that conspiracy. The grand jury process replaced a preliminary hearing that otherwise would have been used to determine whether prosecutors had presented enough evidence to send the defendants to trial. The indictment does not establish guilt; it formally permits the prosecution to proceed on the charged allegations.

Arabella’s two younger sisters survived and received medical care after her death. Prosecutors allege they were subjected to abuse similar to conduct alleged against Arabella. Their experiences have become an important part of both the criminal prosecution and separate civil litigation. One surviving sister testified before the grand jury about restrictions on food and water, forced exercise and punishment inside the home, according to reporting on the proceedings. Because the sisters are minors and survivors of alleged abuse, their identities have generally been protected in public reporting.

Another part of the investigation concerns Brian McCormack, Arabella’s adoptive father and Leticia McCormack’s husband. Sheriff’s officials said deputies contacted him near the family home during the investigation on the day Arabella died and that he died by suicide in their presence. Prosecutors have since said he would have faced criminal charges had he lived. His death means he cannot be tried, and allegations concerning his conduct remain untested in a criminal case against him. Evidence involving him, however, has appeared in the prosecution’s account of the alleged conspiracy involving the treatment of the children.

The criminal proceedings have also drawn attention because of Leticia McCormack’s connection to Rock Church in San Diego. The church has said she was a volunteer rather than a paid staff member or pastor. It said her ordination as an elder had been completed elsewhere and transferred to Rock Church in January 2022. The church suspended her ordination after the investigation began and later revoked it. Those distinctions became significant as lawsuits filed on behalf of Arabella’s surviving sisters alleged that people and organizations outside the immediate family missed or failed to act on warning signs of abuse.

That civil litigation ended with settlements totaling $31.5 million involving the city and county of San Diego, Pacific Coast Academy and Rock Church. The settlements included $10 million from the city, $10 million from the county, $8.5 million from the charter school and $3 million from Rock Church. The lawsuit alleged failures by various people and institutions to report or adequately investigate signs of abuse. Those civil claims are separate from the murder prosecution and do not determine whether McCormack or her parents are criminally guilty. Rock Church said after the settlement that it remained saddened by Arabella’s death and the harm suffered by her sisters.

The county’s role was questioned in the civil case because records described earlier reports about the treatment of the children. According to reporting on those records, school employees had raised concerns involving restrictions on food and water, bathroom access and sleeping arrangements before Arabella died. The lawsuit alleged that county social workers failed to properly investigate reports and did not always interview Arabella separately from her parents. The county later agreed to pay $10 million in the civil settlement. The settlement resolved those claims financially without serving as a criminal finding against the defendants awaiting trial.

The decision to pursue a death sentence also has an unusual practical context in California. Newsom’s 2019 executive order granted reprieves to people sentenced to death while he is governor, repealed the state’s lethal-injection protocol and ordered the execution chamber at San Quentin closed. The order did not abolish the death penalty, overturn existing death judgments or prevent prosecutors from seeking capital punishment in eligible cases. As a result, McCormack can face a capital prosecution even though California currently has no active process for carrying out an execution. Any death sentence would also be subject to extensive review and appeals if she were convicted.

McCormack’s capital trial and her parents’ separate trial will therefore ask juries to decide criminal accusations arising from the same household but carrying different potential punishments. Prosecutors will have to prove the charged crimes beyond a reasonable doubt and, in McCormack’s case, establish the legal findings required for a death sentence before punishment becomes an issue. Her parents face the possibility of life without parole if convicted of the allegations carrying that penalty. The separate trial schedules also mean testimony and evidence connected to Arabella and her sisters may be presented in different proceedings months apart.

As of Sept. 22, 2026, no defendant has been convicted in Arabella McCormack’s death. Leticia McCormack remains scheduled for trial in August 2027, while Stanley and Adella Tom are scheduled to be tried together in February. A status hearing for the defendants has been reported for Nov. 17. Until the cases are resolved by plea or trial, the allegations described by prosecutors remain allegations, and all three defendants retain their presumption of innocence.

Author note: Last updated September 22, 2026.