An Indiana woman babysitting a relative’s children allegedly drowned a 4-year-old girl while attempting to “baptize” her in the bathtub.
The alleged incident occurred in September 2023, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in December 2024. Nakia Martin, 39, was arrested in December after an investigation into the death of a child she cared for.
According to the affidavit, Martin is cousins with the child’s mother, who was in Indiana while Martin was babysitting the children in Spring, Texas. According to the document, Martin called for help after discovering the child was foaming at the mouth and “cold to the touch.”
On the morning of September 9, 2023, Martin noticed that the child was not doing well and called a family member before calling authorities. When officers arrived, they discovered the child in a bedroom and pronounced him dead at the scene.
The document stated that puddles surrounded a “large, dirty Jacuzzi tub” in the bathroom next to the bedroom where the child’s body was found.
Officers reported that Martin appeared “distressed,” but spoke with them, telling them that the night before, she bathed the child and applied lotion to her and one of her siblings. She reportedly admitted to being in the bathtub with the other children, including the alleged victim.
When asked when she took her bath, Martin said she couldn’t remember. She was also asked if she remembered calling to report a drowning, and she allegedly replied, “I don’t think so.” Martin also reportedly claimed that she was “just holding” the now-deceased child and “didn’t mean to kill this baby,” but later admitted, “I killed a kid.”
The officers questioned the two other children, ages 6 and 8, and they provided a much more detailed story. Both children informed one of the officers that “something happened, the Devil,” and that the lotion Martin had applied to the deceased child was “blessing oil.”
Police then contacted the girl’s mother, who stated that her surviving daughter informed her that Martin was “trying to baptize them” the night her other daughter drowned.
The mother had checked in on the children the day before the incident and spoke with Martin via FaceTime, during which she saw her three children in the tub, all alive.
However, she also told police that Martin’s behavior concerned her, saying she “had been acting strangely and ranting about God.” According to the document, Martin told the kids “that God would show them something.”
The deceased child’s siblings were interviewed again later. During the interview, the surviving daughter claimed that Martin had held her sister under water and “caused [her] to bleed.” The girl also claimed that Martin attempted to drown her. She claims Martin told her to “keep the incident a secret and threatened her with Hell.”
When the boy was interviewed, he revealed additional disturbing details about the alleged incident involving Martin and his deceased sister.
He claimed that he was in the tub at the same time and saw his late sister “struggling to breathe and pulling [Martin]’s hair.” After Martin allegedly pushed the girl back under the water, the boy attempted to assist, but Martin allegedly stopped him.
Martin was arrested in December 2024 and extradited to Harris County, Texas, where she faces capital murder charges for a child under the age of ten. Her next court appearance is scheduled for March 20.
According to a spokesperson for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, the delay in arresting Martin was due to interviews related to the investigation and the autopsy report on the girl. WISH, a local CW affiliate in Indianapolis, Indiana, reported this.
