The defendants in the civil case included McCormack, the estate of Brian McCormack, the Toms, Rock Church, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, and San Diego County Child Welfare Services. The suit sought damages for negligence, failure in mandatory reporting duties, violation of federal civil rights, assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The civil suit alleged “years of neglect, abuse, and torture perpetrated by [Arabella’s] adoptive parents Leticia and Brian McCormack.”
“When the medics arrived, Arabella had no pulse, was not breathing, was cold to the touch, and nonresponsive. She weighed just 40 pounds,” the suit stated. It continued as follows:
Her bones were sticking out. Her eyes were sunken with dark circles. Her teeth were yellow and calcified. She had bruises, ulcerations, cuts, and scabs. The medics performed CPR and rushed her to the hospital. Doctors attempted to save her life, but her heart kept failing and she was pronounced dead at 12:28 pm. X-rays revealed that she had thirteen bone fractures. Arabella was starved, beaten, and abused to death.
The suit stated that doctors said Arabella’s younger siblings were “near death” and that being hospitalized “saved their lives.”
According to the suit, Rock Church member Janet Horvath was part of a prayer group that prayed for the McCormack sisters. After Arabella died, Horvath reported seeing the younger two sisters in 2021 and thinking they were “fragile” and looked like “little ghosts.” Arabella was kept upstairs while Horvath was there.
“Ms. McCormack told the prayer group that Arabella had ‘bad behaviors,’ that they couldn’t have people over, and that there was ‘spiritual warfare’ and ‘demonic activity’ with Arabella,” said the suit. “Rather than report these troubling observations about the girls and Ms. McCormack to the authorities, the prayer group kept it within the church and took no action to protect the children.”
The suit also held liable Rock Church Child Abuse Investigator and Safety Operations Manager Kevin Johnstone, who visited the McCormack home “multiple” times, including during the week of Arabella’s death. The suit accused the church of giving “a false narrative to the public” by presenting Johnstone as an investigator with Child Protective Services. Johnstone, Rock Church, and McPherson should have reported the abuse and neglect of the McCormack girls at that time and failed to do so, said the suit.
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“Rock Church remains deeply saddened by the tragic and devastating loss of Arabella McCormack, and the injuries and losses suffered by her two younger sisters. We are hopeful that the settlement will help pave the way for healing,” said the church in a statement on its website.
