Zahra Baker Update: Thousands Attend Vigil for N.C. Girl
CHARLOTTE, NC (CBS/WBTV) A mix of emotions filed the air in downtown Hickory, N.C. Tuesday night as thousands of mourners packed Union Square for a vigil for 10-year-old Zahra Baker, who police believe to be dead.
Zahra, who was reported missing more than a month ago, should have been
celebrating her 11th birthday. Instead, others gathered - including many who never
knew the little girl - to honor her.
"She was very, very sweet and we miss her a lot," said Lynlee Suber, who used to ride the bus with Zahra to Granite Falls Elementary School, according to WBTV.
Speakers described Zahra as a fighter who never let her battle with cancer, loss of hearing or her loss of a leg stop her. But some people were angry about the lack of charges directly related to the girl's death, according to WBTV. Near the end of the vigil many shouted "We want justice."
Although no one has been charged with Zahra's murder, the young girl's stepmother Elisa Baker is currently jailed on obstruction of justice charges.
Baker reportedly told her attorneys on October 22 that she knew the circumstances concerning the disappearance and death of her stepdaughter, according to her attorney, Scott Reilly.
Within two days, police were told that Zahra was dead and that her body was dismembered and would be recovered at different locations, according to Reilly. Authorities later took Baker out of jail to aide in the search for the girl's remains.
Authorities recovered Zahra's prosthetic leg and a bone that matched her DNA in Caldwell County. A police source also told WBTV that "the bone has evidence of cut marks on it."
"This case isn't over and we won't rest until we have all the information we need to bring the people to justice who hurt Zahra," police Chief Tom Adkins told WBTV.
Zahra's biological father Adam Baker was arrested on unrelated charges and released on bail. He continues to be a person of interest in the case.
