Fake Babysitter Charged; Sisters Rescued From Hot Trailer
Fake Babysitter Charged; Sisters Rescued From Hot Trailer

The News
Atlanta police say a 42-year-old woman who posed as a babysitter on Facebook kidnapped two sisters and hid them in a sweltering tow trailer, where officers found them Monday afternoon after nearly two days missing.
Lakesha Brown is being held at the Fulton County Jail without bond on two counts of kidnapping and two counts of child cruelty, The Independent reported.
Zola Cooper, 4, and her 11-month-old sister, Norah Cooper, were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for evaluation and were in good health, police said.
Investigators say Brown is awaiting trial in Alabama for allegedly taking a 4-day-old newborn in 2021 — using what Atlanta police called an "identical" tactic.
Timeline
Authorities in Jefferson County, Alabama, accuse Brown of taking 4-day-old Kamarion Taylor in Fairfield after agreeing to help care for the baby and his mother, Brionna Washington, who reportedly woke from a nap to find Brown and the infant gone. The baby was later found safe. Brown pleaded not guilty.
Brown is scheduled for trial in the Alabama case but fails to appear in court, prosecutors said. She also has an outstanding warrant in Alabama for missing court.
Brown meets Elicia Redding through a Facebook group for expectant mothers, first offering to do hair for expecting moms, Redding told CBS News. Police say Brown described herself as part of a support system that assisted mothers with babysitting.
Redding leaves Zola and Norah in Brown's care for the day. According to an arrest warrant reviewed by WRDW, Brown offered to take the girls to Walmart and Candy Utopia. Redding says she checked in repeatedly and was told everything was fine. The two women agree to meet at the girls' grandmother's home; Brown never arrives. Brown initially tells the mother the girls had been in a car accident, according to the New York Post's account of the case.
Redding, unable to reach Brown, calls police. Officers initially respond to what they believe is a custody dispute, then determine a kidnapping has occurred. The girls are reported critically missing and police say they are in extreme danger. A Levi's Call — Georgia's version of an Amber Alert — is issued.
Acting on a tip and Brown's cellphone location, police track her to a property on Sylvan Road in southwest Atlanta, about five miles from where the girls were last seen. Officers surrounding a windowless tow trailer at an apartment complex hear a baby crying inside, break in with a concrete block and cutters, and pull both girls out. Brown is found inside and taken into custody.
The Atlanta Police Department releases the bodycam footage. Brown waives her first court appearance.
Reactions
"I thought it was just going to be a day out. I trusted her, and she broke that trust," Redding told WSB-TV. "You can't trust nobody."
"The mother thought she was leaving her children in the care of someone she could trust," Atlanta Police Lt. Christapher Butler said.
Police said Brown "posed as a babysitter through a social media group and gained the trust of unsuspecting mothers before kidnapping their children," according to arrest documents reviewed by People.
Investigators said the trailer was "unsuitable for human habitation" — unclean, without air conditioning, on a day temperatures hit 97 degrees. "By placing and maintaining the small children in these conditions without proper authority or adequate care, Ms. Lakesha Brown endangered and jeopardized their health, safety, and well-being," police said.
Brown later admitted she should have returned the girls when Redding asked but could not give a "logical reason" for why she didn't, according to the warrants cited by WSB-TV.
What's Next
Brown remains jailed in Fulton County without bond on the Georgia kidnapping and child cruelty counts.
Alabama prosecutors have moved to revoke her $100,000 bond in the 2021 newborn case and to have her extradited to face that charge.
The motive for the alleged Atlanta kidnapping remains unclear, police said.
More
The bodycam video, released by Atlanta police, shows an officer forcing the trailer open and shouting "Put your hands up!" and "Don't move or I will shoot you" at Brown, who was inside with the girls hidden under a blanket. Officers lifted out the 11-month-old, wearing only a diaper, first — "I got the baby," one said — then the 4-year-old, telling her, "You're alright."
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