Remembering Emma

Emma Leigh Barker was only 18 months old. She was surrounded by family members who helped care for her. Her grandmother rearranged her work schedule so she could watch Emma during the day, and Emma's uncle also helped care for her. Family members later testified that they had never seen Emma's mother physically abuse her before the events that ended her life. Those ordinary pieces of Emma's life matter. Because Emma's name would eventually appear in newspaper headlines beside words like murder, kidnapping and suffocation. But before any of that, Emma was a little girl. At 18 months old, she was at an age of discovery walking, playing, learning words and becoming more independent while still depending completely upon the adults around her. At her funeral, Emma was remembered as a little princess who was almost always smiling. Hundreds of relatives and friends reportedly gathered to say goodbye. Her name was Emma Leigh Barker. And she deserved far more than 18 months.

Emma's Story

On March 18, 2009, Emma was at home in Lancaster with her mother, Stacey Barker, and members of her extended family. That afternoon, Stacey argued with her own mother about how much time she was spending away from Emma. Stacey's mother told her that she would continue babysitting while Stacey worked but would no longer provide childcare so Stacey could regularly go out socially. At approximately 4:30 p.m., Stacey said she was taking Emma to the park. She left the house with her daughter. Emma would never return home alive. Hours later, Stacey called her boyfriend in hysterics. She claimed she had been attacked after taking Emma to Lancaster City Park. According to her initial account, she had been placing Emma into the car when someone struck her unconscious. She claimed she awoke hours later at a park-and-ride facility in Palmdale. Emma was gone. The story triggered an urgent search for an allegedly abducted 18 month old child. But investigators quickly began finding problems with Stacey's account. Her cellphone records told a completely different story. Rather than remaining in the Lancaster/Palmdale area as Stacey had claimed, cellphone-tower evidence showed her phone traveling south through Los Angeles and then north again. At approximately 9:50 p.m., Stacey's phone was within about a mile of the location where Emma's body would later be found. Confronted with that evidence, Stacey changed her story. She now said there had been no attacker. There had been no kidnapping. Instead, she claimed Emma had accidentally suffocated after getting a plastic sandwich bag from her mother's purse while riding in the car. Stacey said she panicked because she feared people would think she was a bad mother. She admitted abandoning Emma's body. On the morning of March 19, Stacey led investigators to a grassy area near the Golden State Freeway in Sylmar. There, authorities found Emma Leigh Barker. She was dead. But the physical evidence did not support her mother's story of an accidental suffocation. Medical evidence presented at trial showed injuries around Emma's mouth consistent with pressure being applied to her face. The medical examiner ultimately determined that Emma died from suffocation caused by a hand obstructing her nose and mouth. Emma's death was ruled a homicide.

The False Kidnapping

What happened after Emma died became an extraordinary part of the criminal investigation. Stacey didn't simply tell authorities that an accident had occurred. She constructed an elaborate story suggesting that someone had attacked her and kidnapped Emma. Investigators found Stacey sitting in her vehicle wearing only underwear and appearing hysterical. She had a bump on her head and scratches on her body. She was taken to a hospital and underwent a forensic sexual-assault examination. During later questioning, Stacey admitted that she had attempted to make the situation appear as though she had been sexually assaulted because she feared being blamed for Emma's death. Meanwhile, law enforcement was searching for an attacker and an abducted toddler who did not exist. The truth was that Emma was already dead. Her body had been left beside a freeway. Cellphone records eventually dismantled the story Stacey had created and helped investigators trace her movements on the night Emma died.

Justice for Emma

Authorities initially waited for additional forensic evidence while investigating Emma's death. Then, on April 23, 2009, Stacey Barker was arrested. Four days later, prosecutors charged her with: Murder Assault on a child under eight causing death Child abuse Stacey maintained that Emma's death had been accidental. The case eventually went before a jury. Prosecutors presented the medical evidence surrounding Emma's suffocation, Stacey's changing explanations, her fabricated kidnapping story, cellphone records showing her actual movements and evidence concerning events leading up to Emma's death. In May 2011, the jury rejected Stacey's explanation. She was found guilty of all three charges. Most importantly, the jury found her guilty of: First degree murder. On June 17, 2011, Stacey Marie Barker was sentenced to: 25 years to life in prison. The court imposed an additional 25-years to life sentence for assault on a child causing death, but stayed that sentence under California law. The child abuse sentence and enhancement were also stayed.

Stacey Marie Barker
Relationship to Emma: Mother
Convictions: First-degree murder, assault on a child under eight causing death, and child abuse
Sentence: 25 years to life

Stacey appealed her conviction.

​

In 2013, the California Court of Appeal considered her challenges and affirmed the judgment.

Forever Remembered

Emma Leigh Barker was 18 months old. For hours after she died, strangers believed there was a little girl somewhere who needed to be found. Police searched. People worried. A kidnapping story spread. But Emma wasn't missing. She had already been killed. And while adults tried to unravel what had happened, her tiny body had been left in a grassy area beside a freeway. That is a terrible part of Emma's story. But it isn't Emma. Emma was the toddler whose grandmother changed her work schedule so someone who loved her could care for her during the day. She was the little girl whose uncle helped look after her. She was the child remembered after her death as a smiling little princess. There should have been a second birthday. There should have been first sentences. Preschool. Kindergarten. School pictures. Friends. There should have been years in which Emma became old enough to tell everyone who she was for herself. Instead, Emma's life ended at 18 months. So we remember the name behind the investigation. Emma Leigh Barker. Not the fake kidnapping. Not the freeway. Not the trial. Emma. A little girl who smiled. A little girl who was loved. A little girl who deserved to grow up. Emma was here. Emma mattered. And Emma will be remembered.