{"id":326719,"date":"2026-05-21T20:59:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/326719\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T20:59:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:59:23","slug":"investigation-into-15-year-old-girls-death-in-ridgecrest-suspended-amid-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/326719\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigation into 15-year-old girl’s death in Ridgecrest suspended amid evidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 An investigation into the death of 15-year-old Cecelia “CeeCee” Tousaint<\/a> has been suspended in light of new evidence from the Ridgecrest Police Department (RPD).<\/p>\n

Ridgecrest police said on October 26, 2024, at 2 a.m., officers were called to a report of an unresponsive person in the 400 block of West Las Flores Avenue. They found a 15-year-old girl unresponsive, later identified as Cecelia Toussaint, of Trona.<\/p>\n

Based on the physical evidence found at the scene, it was determined that it was unlikely Toussaint had been struck while standing, said police. Evidence instead suggested that she had been struck by a vehicle lying in the road.<\/p>\n

Detectives then focused on how and why she ended up in the street.<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS REPORTING: Death investigation underway after 15-year-old girl dies in Ridgecrest<\/a><\/p>\n

In RPD’s investigation, surveillance footage was seen from a long distance, which appeared to show Toussaint walking southbound from a nearby apartment complex. She kept walking until she disappeared from view in a darkened area near a local church. She was not seen again until discovered by the two people who reported her. Detectives found that there was no obvious indication from the footage that Toussaint was in any distress.<\/p>\n

Just after 2 a.m., RPD dispatch received a 911 call reporting the incident. Two men were interviewed who found Toussaint in the road. Then men did not know each other, or had a cell phone on them, said police. Both immediately tried to flag down drivers to ask for help. Surveillance footage confirmed that the men arrived in the area before finding Toussaint. Both men cooperated with the investigation and were ruled out conclusively of having any involvement in Toussaint’s death, said RPD. <\/p>\n

Investigators said witnesses reported Toussaint was at a \u201cgathering\u201d at an apartment complex in the 400 block of Mojave View Avenue before the incident. No witnesses said they saw Toussaint drink any alcohol. The “gathering” was attended by both adults and minors.<\/p>\n

Detectives learned that Toussaint had been living with a family friend. A caregiver reported that Toussaint was kicked out of her parents’ home in Trona and had been without consistent, meaningful parental supervision for several years.<\/p>\n

The caregiver said they caught Toussaint and another minor drinking alcohol the weekend before the incident, and took the alcohol away at that time.<\/p>\n

Through a combination of Flock Safety camera technology and private surveillance systems, detectives identified 10 of the 11 vehicles known to have driven through the area during the time period near the incident. The video evidence showed no noticeable evasive action or sudden changes in behavior from the drivers as they passed through the area. The drivers of those vehicles cooperated with law enforcement.<\/p>\n

However, RPD said one vehicle could not be identified, which was described as a maroon\/burgundy Ford Super Duty extended cab truck.<\/p>\n

Detectives found what appeared to be a human hair on the underside of one of the vehicles examined by police. The sample was given to the Kern County Crime Laboratory for forensic analysis.<\/p>\n

An autopsy was performed on November 4, 2024, by the Kern County Coroner’s Office. Two Ridgecrest police detectives were present during the exam, which revealed physical markings on Toussaint\u2019s head consistent with being struck by a vehicle tire. The coroner said that the official cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma resulting from being struck by a vehicle. The manner of death was ruled accidental.<\/p>\n

The medical examiner collected a reference hair sample from Toussaint for comparison. <\/p>\n

A toxicology test later revealed that Toussaint’s blood alcohol concentration level was 0.135% at the time of her death, said police.<\/p>\n

RPD said investigators were aware of misinformation circulating publicly suggesting an autopsy was not conducted. That information is incorrect and appears to stem from a clerical error on a form, said officials. Detectives have the complete medical examiner\u2019s report documenting the autopsy findings.<\/p>\n

Several months later, investigators were told that the Kern County Crime Laboratory was unable to complete forensic testing on the hair sample. The samples were submitted to the FBI, and it was determined that the hair from the vehicle did not match Toussaint.<\/p>\n

The California Department of Justice investigators independently reviewed the case at the request of Toussaint’s family. The DOJ found no irregularities in the Ridgecrest Police Department\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n

The case was also submitted to the Kern County District Attorney\u2019s Office for additional review.<\/p>\n

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Sergeant Jayson Arnold at (760) 499-5100. or jarnold@ridgecrest-ca.gov.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 An investigation into the death of 15-year-old Cecelia “CeeCee” Tousaint has been suspended in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-326719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}