Teacher Warned of Abuse Before 10-Year-Old's Murder

School officials had warned a judge that Nubia Barahona and her twin brother were being abused nearly four years before Nubia's body was found doused in toxic chemicals inside her adoptive father's car, a child welfare lawyer revealed yesterday. In a 2007 hearing to decide whether Jorge and Carmen Barahona should be allowed to adopt Nubia and her brother Victor, school officials told the judge that the children generally came to school dirty and malnourished, and spoke of being abused, the AP reports.

Nubia's kindergarten teacher testified about an incident in which she told Nubia she was going to call her mother. The girl burst into tears crying, "Momma is going to hit me with a (flip flop) on the bottom of my feet." At the time, the teacher didn't realize how serious that was. "I am (now) fully aware from what the experts tell me that is a sign of torture," she said through tears. "No bruises are left." Experts are trying to determine how the adoption was approved despite these warnings. (More Jorge Barahona stories.)