PALATKA, Fla. – A 17-year-old girl will face a judge this afternoon after, police said, she attempted to kidnap a 5-week-old boy from Palatka.
The baby, Demarion Roddrick, was found safe in Jacksonville 27 hours after he was taken and was returned to his mother, Donshay Hampton, Tuesday.
"(It) just felt good that he was back home," Hampton said, quickly adding. "I need to go fix some bottles."
Police said Demarion Hampton was in the company of Charteria Pittman, of Palatka. Police said Pittman took the baby from his mother about 9 a.m. Monday under the pretense of getting some holiday photos taken at the local Kmart store. When she hadn't returned by that night, the family called police.
"When you get a call in the middle of the night that someone's missing a 5-week-old child, it causes a concern," said Palatka police Interim Chief James Griffith. "Luckily we had some help from the public as well as other agencies, so it turned out real well."
Pittman was taken into custody in Jacksonville just before noon and transported to Palatka, where by late afternoon she was charged with interfering with custody of a child, a third-degree felony.
Pittman is scheduled for a first appearance at 1 p.m. in a Palatka courtroom.
Local attorney Randy Reep said interfering with child custody isn't the only charge Pittman could be facing.
"The child could have a medical dependency to where she depends on the mother for things, medicines or otherwise, so you could get child endangerment, neglect," said Reep. "People think neglect is just not taking care of a child. It's also not providing care."
"She's 17. Could the charges be lesser because of the fact she's 17?" asked News4Jax's Francesca Amiker.
"It is a lesser punishment because you're a juvenile and we make room for children to make stupid decisions, which this very well may have been," Reep said.
According to Palatka police, Pittman and the boy were found on the Southside just before noon. Police said Pittman had contacted her relatives and wanted to meet them to return the boy because she had seen the coverage and was afraid.
News4Jax learned that Pittman (pictured, right) was pulled over by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents in the Regency area while she was headed to make arrangements to hand over the boy. Officials said the baby was checked by rescuers and was OK.
"That's the type of ending you want to see," Griffith said. "You're talking about a small child. The safety of a small child is always important. Everybody worked really well together; we had a lot of cooperation from other agencies. Just happy it worked out this way."
Reep also said now that the government has arrested Pittman and taken her into custody, charges will pend later based on what the State Attorney's Office thinks they can prove. This matter is no longer up to police.
Abduction, Amber Alert, Happy ending
The series of events that ended with Demarion's safe recovery in Jacksonville began about 27 hours earlier in Putnam County.
"She came and asked me, 'Can my baby go and take Christmas pictures with her little girl?' and I said, 'Yes.' And she took him,'" his mom, Donshay Hampton, said Tuesday morning. "I've been trying to call her, get in contact with her and see where my child was. And she didn't reply back to me."
Hampton described Pittman is a close family friend.
"She's just a really close friend. I mean, we've been friends ever since middle school. Real close friends," Hampton said. "I didn't think she would ever do anything like that to me."
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Police said the child was seen with Pittman around 2:30 p.m. Monday in Palatka and they probably traveled to the Jacksonville area by bus.
According to information from friends, Pittman has friends, possibly had a boyfriend, in Jacksonville.
About 3 a.m. Tuesday, a statewide Amber Alert for Demarion was issued. Because of other things going on at the time, the text alert was never sent.
"We work through FDLE on it," Griffith said. "They don't usually do the text alert to everyone until after 7 a.m., and so this morning when the info started pouring into us, we were in contact with the FDLE and the FBI and we were chasing down other leads and it was a step that was neglected as far as doing the all-out text."
According to FDLE, five criteria must be met to qualify as an Amber Alert:
1) The child must be under 18 years of age.
2) There must be a clear indication of an abduction.
3) The law enforcement agency's preliminary investigation must conclude that the child's life is in danger.
4) There must be a detailed description of child, abductor and/or vehicle to broadcast to the public.
5) The activation must be recommended by the local law enforcement agency of jurisdiction.
If those requirements are met like they were in this case, then local law enforcement will contact FDLE's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse and prepare to notify the public.
Hampton told police Pittman may have been trying to pass off the 5-week-old as her own son.
"She was faking a pregnancy and I guess the dude -- she never told him that she lost it -- so now she's just got my baby, got him thinking that that's his baby and stuff," Hampton said. "She's just using my baby as it's his. He thinks it's his baby, and she's just trying to use him to get a man, really."
Investigators with the Palatka Police Department said they considered that scenario and had reason to believe Pittman may be somewhere in Jacksonville.
Tuesday afternoon, family members said it appeared Pittman was intent on keeping the baby, since there were more supplies in the diaper bag when the Demarion was found than when Chapman left with him."
"She bought more clothes I guess," said a cousin, Sharikya Turner. "She wanted it to be her baby and couldn't get away with it."