BEACHVILLE -- A woman charged with killing Rebbecca Haney was an attentive caregiver to the little girl, a friend and former neighbour says. Melissa Babineau, 24, the partner of Rebbecca's mother, Mistey Haney, is charged with second-degree murder in the Christmas Eve death of the tot.

She's also charged with causing indignity to a dead body.

A woman who lived next to the couple in Beachville said she only saw Babineau treat Rebbecca with care.

"When she was over here, Misty didn't pay as much attention to her as Melissa did," said the neighbour, who did not want to be identified.

The woman noted she was friendly with Melissa and her parents -- Chris and Vanessa Babineau -- who all lived in the next-door duplex until a month ago.

In Beachville yesterday, few people were talking publicly about the murder charge.

What's now Chesco Eus's living room would once have been the local gossip centre, he said yesterday, sitting in the converted coffee shop he calls home.

It was Sunday when Oxford OPP arrived at a house just a few doors down and arrested Vanessa Babineau, who is charged with being an accessory after the death.

"I seen a paddy wagon and there was . . . two cruisers in the driveway and one on the road there," he recalled.

A knock at the front door of Chris Babineau's home went unanswered yesterday.

At the Woodstock townhouse complex where Melissa Babineau was found by police Sunday, neighbours yesterday recalled events that led to her arrest.

Tenants in the complex said police arrived about 5 p.m. with three marked cruisers, two unmarked cars, a forensic van and a patrol wagon. No lights or sirens were used.

"It was all pretty well planned down to a T. It wasn't dramatic," said a neighbour, who asked his name not be used.

The man said Melissa Babineau came out of the house, her head hung low and covered with a hood.

OPP put the 24-year-old in the patrol wagon.

"At first we were thinking, 'That's weird, the detectives are here, OPP and no town cops.' The next day, you piece it together," the man said.

The man said he thought Babineau had arrived at the house that day.

Another neighbour said police took three duffel bags with them from the house.

Neighbours who learned through media reports why the woman was arrested were still talking about it yesterday.

"We're kind of shocked," said one woman.

Search warrants police used at the Zorra Township farmhouse where Rebbecca's body was found have been sealed.

The little girl was found in a basement room following a six-hour search Christmas Eve.