Honk News – A woman in Indiana, who was babysitting her relative’s children, is accused of drowning a 4-year-old girl in the bathtub while attempting to “baptize” her.
An incident reportedly took place in September 2023, based on a probable cause affidavit submitted in December 2024. Nakia Martin, 39, was taken into custody in December after an investigation into the death of a child under her care. The affidavit states that Martin is related to the child’s mother, who was in Indiana while Martin was looking after the kids in Spring, Texas. According to the document, Martin sought help after discovering the child was foaming at the mouth and felt “cold to the touch.”
On the morning of September 9, 2023, Martin noticed that the child was in distress and reached out to a family member before contacting the authorities. Officers arrived at the home and discovered the child in a bedroom, where they were pronounced dead at the scene.
The report indicated that there were puddles around a “large, dirty Jacuzzi tub” in the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom where the child’s body was found. Officers reported that Martin seemed “distressed,” but she communicated with them, explaining that the previous night, she had bathed the child and applied lotion to her and one of her siblings. She is said to have acknowledged being in the bathtub with all the children, including the one who is alleged to be the victim.
When asked about when she took the bath, Martin replied that she didn’t recall. When asked if she recalled calling to report a drowning, she reportedly replied, “I don’t think so.” Martin reportedly said she was “just holding” the now-deceased child and “didn’t mean to kill this baby,” later adding, “I killed a kid.”
The officers spoke with the two other children, who were 6 and 8 years old, and they provided a more detailed account of what happened. The children informed one of the officers that “something happened, the Devil,” and mentioned that the lotion Martin applied to the deceased child was “blessing oil.”
Authorities reached out to the girl’s mother, who reported that her surviving daughter mentioned Martin was “trying to baptize them” on the night her other daughter drowned. The mother had visited the children the day before the event and had a FaceTime call with Martin, during which she saw her three kids in the bathtub, all of them safe and sound. She expressed to the police that she found Martin’s behavior troubling, noting that she “had been acting strangely and ranting about God.” Martin informed the children that “God would show them something.”
The siblings of the child who passed away were interviewed once more at a later date. In the interview, the daughter reportedly stated that Martin had submerged her sister in the water, leading to her bleeding. The girl also reported that Martin supposedly tried to drown her. She said that Martin instructed her to “keep the incident a secret and warned her about Hell.”
During the interview, the boy shared unsettling information regarding the supposed incident involving Martin and his late sister. He reportedly claimed that he was in the bathtub at the same time and saw his late sister “struggling to breathe and pulling [Martin]’s hair.” Following the incident where Martin reportedly pushed the girl back under the water, the boy attempted to assist her, but Martin is said to have intervened to prevent him from doing so.
In December 2024, Martin was taken into custody and sent to Harris County, Texas, where she faced charges of capital murder involving a child under the age of 10. Her next court appearance is scheduled for March 20.