Darisabel Leanna Baez 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remembering Darisabel

Darisabel Baez had just turned two years old. Her second birthday was April 5, 2008. Two days later, she was dead.

At two years old, Darisabel should have been at the beginning of everything—learning new words, playing, exploring and becoming more independent while still relying completely on the adults around her to keep her safe. Instead, the public record that remains of Darisabel's life is dominated by the extraordinary violence inflicted upon her. But Darisabel was a little girl before she became the victim in a murder case. She was a daughter. She was a child whose life had barely begun. Her name was Darisabel Baez, and she deserved far more than two years.

​

​

Darisabel's Story

Darisabel lived in York, Pennsylvania, with her mother, Neida Baez, and Neida's boyfriend, Harve Lamar Johnson. The abuse did not begin on the day Darisabel suffered her fatal injuries. At Johnson's eventual trial, Neida testified that Johnson had frequently abused Darisabel during the months before her death. He struck the little girl with a belt on multiple occasions. One of those beatings was reportedly so severe that Darisabel lost consciousness. Johnson had also bitten Darisabel's fingers and her cheek. Before the final beating, Darisabel already had bruises on her fingers and legs and bald spots on her head.  Then came April 6, 2008, the day after Darisabel's second birthday. That morning, Darisabel entered the bedroom where Johnson and her mother were. Johnson became angry. He struck Darisabel and ordered her to stand in a corner. Later that afternoon, Neida heard Johnson yelling and Darisabel crying. She saw Johnson spanking the toddler near the top of the stairs. During the beating, Darisabel's diaper ruptured. According to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's account of the evidence, that made Johnson even angrier. He continued beating her. The assault lasted approximately 20 to 30 minutes. Neida testified that she repeatedly asked Johnson to stop. She also testified that Johnson threatened to beat her. Eventually, something inside the home changed. Darisabel stopped screaming. Neida could no longer hear her daughter crying or Johnson yelling. Then she heard water running in the bathtub for approximately ten minutes. Johnson eventually emerged carrying Darisabel. Her little body was limp. Johnson had attempted to revive her in the bathtub. Darisabel's mother eventually called for emergency help.

When police arrived, they found the two year old unresponsive on the kitchen floor. Officers immediately noticed something else: Darisabel's body was covered in both old and new bruises. Police attempted to revive her. Paramedics transported Darisabel to York Hospital, and she was subsequently transferred to Hershey Medical Center. She was placed on life support. Doctors could not save her. On April 7, 2008, Darisabel Baez died. She had turned two years old only two days earlier.

The extent of the violence inflicted upon Darisabel was staggering. The coroner described her injuries as among the worst cases of child abuse he had ever encountered. Years later, reporting surrounding Johnson's execution warrant stated that investigators documented more than 150 injuries across Darisabel's body. Johnson admitted to police that he had beaten Darisabel with a video-game controller before she lost consciousness. Darisabel's death was not an accident. It was homicide.

​

​

Warning Signs & Failure to Protect

Darisabel's fatal beating did not occur without warning. According to testimony preserved in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court record, her mother knew that Johnson had abused her daughter previously. She testified that he had struck Darisabel with belts. She described an earlier beating severe enough to cause the toddler to lose consciousness. She knew he had bitten her daughter's fingers and cheek. And on April 6, Neida could hear her daughter screaming while Johnson beat her. Police said she did not intervene or seek immediate help. Detectives therefore charged Neida Baez with endangering the welfare of a child, explaining that the charge resulted from her failure to intervene or obtain help while knowing her daughter was being beaten. There is an important distinction here. This was not a situation in which the person responsible for protecting Darisabel simply failed to recognize subtle warning signs. According to the evidence eventually presented in court, her mother knew abuse had occurred before the fatal attack. And on the final day, she knew her daughter was being beaten. Darisabel was two. She could not leave that home herself. She could not call police. She could not drive herself to a hospital. She depended upon the adults around her to make the violence stop. They did not protect her in time.

​

Justice for Darisabel

Harve Lamar Johnson was prosecuted for Darisabel's murder. A jury found him guilty of first degree murder. During the penalty phase, jurors found two aggravating circumstances and determined that they outweighed the mitigating circumstance presented by the defense. Johnson was sentenced to: Death.

​

Harve Lamar Johnson

Relationship to Darisabel: Mother's boyfriend

Conviction: First-degree murder

Sentence: Death

​

Johnson appealed. In 2012, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed his first degree murder conviction and death sentence.

His legal challenges continued for years. In 2023, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court considered 22 claims raised in Johnson's petition for post conviction relief. The court concluded that none entitled him to relief and affirmed the denial of post conviction relief.

 

Darisabel's mother, Neida Baez, was separately charged with endangering the welfare of a child for failing to protect her daughter or obtain help during the beating.

​

Forever Remembered

Darisabel Baez had just turned two. Her birthday should have marked another beginning. Instead, one day later, she endured the beating that would end her life. There is no reason to hide the severity of what happened to Darisabel. She had been struck with belts. She had been bitten. She had previously been beaten so severely that she lost consciousness. She had bruises and bald spots before the final attack even began. During that final assault, she was beaten for approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

Eventually, the screaming stopped.  By the time authorities became involved, Darisabel's tiny body showed evidence of both old and new violence.  More than 150 injuries would ultimately be documented.  Those facts are difficult to read. They should be. Darisabel's suffering should not become less horrifying simply because it happened years ago. But what Harve Johnson did to her is not who Darisabel was. Her name was Darisabel Baez. She was two years old. There should have been a third birthday. There should have been preschool and kindergarten. There should have been school pictures, friends, favorite foods, favorite songs and years for Darisabel to discover who she wanted to become. Instead, almost everything publicly preserved about this little girl concerns what adults did or failed to do to her. Abuse Angels remembers Darisabel Baez, tells the truth about the brutality she endured, and preserves the name of the little girl behind the court records. She was here. She mattered.

And she deserved to grow up.