Zahra Baker's mother wants answers in death

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Zahra Baker's birth mother, in her first U.S. interview, says she wants to know what role the girl's father played in the death of their 10-year-old daughter.

Emily Dietrich, told WCNC-TV, Charlotte, N.C., she flew to the United States from Australia so the girl's stepmother, Elisa Baker, could see her face in court last week. Baker pleaded guilty to second degree murder in the 10-year-old's death.

While Zahra Baker's remains have been positively identified and the cause of death is classified a homicide, police still can't say how she died. Her father, Adam Baker, said he didn't realize Zahra was missing until two weeks after investigators determined she had died last year.

"I still hold a lot of resentment towards him," Dietrich said Sunday in the interview.

"There's a big difference between being not guilty and being innocent," she said, "and I don't think he is innocent of what happened. He had played all his own part."

Dietrich said she was 19 when Zahra was born and was suffering from postpartum depression when she gave custody of the child to Adam Baker.