A Miami woman is being held without bail after allegedly kidnapping her cousin’s daughter.
Originally, it was reported that two-month-old Taraji Kemp was abducted on Friday night by armed intruders who broke into her mother’s home. However, now authorities believe Stephanie Luna Augustin — who is related to the child’s mother — convinced her 14-year-old cousin to help her steal the child.
Investigators say Augustin and her cousin broke into an apartment where the child and mother were asleep. Then the boy put a handgun they had bought earlier in the day at Walmart to the mother’s head while Augustin grabbed the child.
Georgia mother tricks police with fake court order into kidnapping son for her
The Sun-Sentinel reports that after sparking two statewide Amber Alerts, Augustin returned the boy to his home in Miami before fleeing to Orlando with the newborn.
The following day, the boy confessed everything to his parents, and Augustin was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol as she drove south on Florida’s Turnpike.
The 23-year-old, who was initially not cooperative, ultimately confessed to the crime. She is now facing a slew of charges, including: aggravated child abuse, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed burglary of a dwelling, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and kidnapping.
New video shows gunman attempting to shoot ‘hero’ who stopped kidnapping
A friend of the suspect told investigators she had announced she was pregnant last August and said that she gave birth in January.
“It was also learned that the defendant did not give birth and actually had a miscarriage,” detectives explained, speculating that her grief over her own lost child may have been the motive behind the kidnapping.
Although the public defender says Augustin was the “chief architect” of the crime, her teen accomplice is currently being held in juvenile detention.