Rock Church of San Diego On Sunday, Pastor Miles McPherson addressed the community about the loss of Aarabella McCormack, 11. He spoke up about the suspected murder of the adoptive kid and the arrest of three former church members in connection with her death for the first time. Leticia McCormack, her adoptive mom, and McCormack’s parents were all there.
McCormack was an elder and the church’s coordinator for ministry leadership. Following her arrest on November 7, the church claims it has cut ties with her and removed her from her appointed position.
On Sunday, McPherson addressed the church, telling them, “We want to pray for all involved.” Everyone who was familiar with her. Our place of worship. I know that whenever something like this occurs, many people have concerns regarding its possible causes and outcomes. Identical concerns have occurred to us.
It has been alleged that McCormack and her parents, Adella and Stanley Tom, abused and tortured their three adoptive girls. McCormack, along with her father, is suspected of killing Aarabella.
After Aarabella’s death on August 30th, NBC 7 Investigates has been trying to find out what happened to her. Aarabella was taken by ambulance to the emergency room late at night, but the physicians were unable to rescue her. U.S. Border Patrol agent and adoptive father of Aarabella reportedly committed suicide only hours after her death. On the same day, authorities began looking into allegations of child abuse and a possible murder.
The two younger sisters of Aarabella, aged 6 and 7, spent many days in the hospital. Their new foster family is taking excellent care of them.
According to word of mouth from friends and family, the San Diego County Child Welfare Services put the children with the McCormacks last year. In 2019, they were legally adopted.
“McPherson informed the crowd that it was puzzling since so many checks had already been run on the candidate. “She had passed a law enforcement agency’s background check since she was a law enforcement volunteer. Since she was caring for foster kids, Child Protective Services investigated her history. Her husband and she are adoptive parents. Naturally, we ran a history check, and it turned up no indication that anything even remotely similar to this had happened or even had a chance of happening.
The church’s spokesperson has been open to NBC 7 Investigates’ queries for the last two months, even though McPherson hadn’t spoken publicly until this weekend. The Rock Church, we were assured, had nothing to do with the fostering or adoption of Aarabella or her sisters.
McPherson then referred his audience to a statement on the church’s website:
“We’re aware that many people have been taken into custody as a consequence of the inquiry into Arabella McCormack’s death. We can’t believe what occurred, and our hearts break for Arabella and her sisters. It’s impossible to fathom what occurred, and we hope that all those affected will soon be able to go on with their lives.
Leticia, the adoptive mother, was formerly a volunteer there. She even volunteered for a law enforcement agency in many different roles!
Our church, the Rock, relies heavily on the efforts of its many volunteers who assist with a wide range of tasks. The church cannot accomplish its objective of serving God and assisting people without the aid of volunteers. Leticia was only able to do so much as a volunteer and had to devote most of her time to administrative coordination. Leticia’s most recent background check was done on 10/25/21, and The Rock Church does these checks frequently for all of our volunteers. We obtained no information from the background check that should have raised any red flags.
Leticia was not a pastor, a member of our staff, or involved in any formal pastoral duties at our church. She was formerly an elder at another church and brought her credentials to the Rock in January of 2022. She has severed all ties to the church; her ordination was temporarily halted at the start of the inquiry and has now been formally canceled.
As is only natural, this tragedy will cause anybody who knew this family to do some serious introspection. Background checks were conducted, she and her husband were active in law enforcement (he worked as a Border Patrol officer), government agencies and the courts authorized the adoption and monitored the children, and yet evidently evil was concealed from plain sight.
It’s horrifying to think about, and it serves as a sobering reminder that human beings are basically evil. Sinful inclination might motivate some people to take extreme measures. We need to keep our guard up at all times and never stop seeking God’s favor.
We, along with everyone else affected by this, are waiting for the courts to act in the hopes that we may finally get answers and go on with our lives.
In the meanwhile, our hearts go out to those who are suffering, and our prayers for clarity and comfort remain unabated. Feel free to get in touch with a member of our pastoral team if you have prayer requests at this time.
According to NBC 7, a church representative said that Aarabella was registered at the Rock as Arabella, even though her mother writes her name with two As.
Due to the current criminal investigation, Child and Welfare Services (CWS) has withheld documents related to Aarabella’s case. The majority of CWS documentation is kept under wraps. However, in the event of a fatality due to child abuse, local authorities in California are allowed to release the kid.
Leticia McCormack and her parents have a bond and readiness hearing on the docket for Wednesday.
