SAN DIEGO — CBS 8 has learned more about law enforcement ties to the three family members charged this month in the death of an adopted, 11-year-old girl, Aarabella McCormack.
All three of the defendants currently being held without bail in San Diego County jail previously volunteered with the San Diego Police Department.
Law enforcement was part of the fabric of the McCormack family when they became foster parents in 2017, and later when they adopted the three girls in 2019.
The adoptive father, Brian McCormack, was an award-winning border patrol agent, according to posts on a family member’s social media page.
The adoptive mother, Leticia McCormack, volunteered with the San Diego Police Department as a Crisis Interventionist, CBS 8 has learned.
Leticia McCormack’s parents, Adella and Stanley Tom, worked with SDPD’s Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol (RSVP).
On August 30, 911 dispatchers received an emergency call from the family’s home on Lakeview Drive in Spring Valley. The caller reported a young girl choking.
Aarabella McCormack died after being transported to the hospital.
Later that same day, the border patrol agent, Brian McCormack, committed suicide inside his pickup truck as he came hope to find deputies surrounding his house.
A Child Welfare Services report later concluded that Aarabella died of abuse and neglect.
The three former SDPD volunteers are behind bars, charged with torture and child abuse of all three girls.
Leticia McCormack, 49, and her father, Stanley Tom, 75, are charged with murder in the death of Aarabella. All three family members face life in prison if convicted on all counts.
A lieutenant with SDPD told CBS 8 he did not have any information that was "readily available," related to the three volunteers.
Leticia McCormack, the adoptive mother, also volunteered as a ministry leadership coordinator at San Diego's Rock Church.
Over the weekend, Pastor Miles McPherson told the congregation the Rock Church had no indication of criminal wrongdoing by the family.
“I want to address a very sad situation that was in the news this week that one of our former volunteers was arrested for the death of her adopted daughter… She was a volunteer for law enforcement, was background checked by law enforcement, background checked by child protective services because she was a foster mother then adopted parents… And then, obviously, we did a background check after all that, and nothing revealed that anything like this could happen,” McPherson told the congregation. The Rock Church also posted a statement regarding Leticia McCormack on its website.
Attorneys for the three defendants had no comment for this report. Leticia McCormack and her parents currently are being held with no bail. All three will be back in court on November 29th for a bail review hearing.
WATCH RELATED: Adoptive mother, grandparents plead not guilty in Spring Valley girl's death (Nov. 2022).
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