LOS ANGELES – A 6-week-old boy snatched by two women who had offered to buy the child from his teenage mother in Los Angeles was found yesterday in Dallas, authorities said.
Devon Calloway was turned over to authorities unharmed early yesterday by an attorney representing Annette Bryant and Sylvia Nunn, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. The two women were identified Tuesday by police as possible suspects in the case.
Although they hadn't been arrested, prosecutors in Los Angeles filed charges against Nunn, 53, and Bryant, 47. Both women, who will likely be extradited to California, face one count each of kidnapping and child stealing, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. They face up to 13 years in state prison if convicted of both charges.
Bail was set at $500,000.
Child welfare workers in Dallas examined the boy pending his return to Los Angeles, authorities said.
Police said they believe the two women expressed interest in Devon when they saw him with his mother at a store on Saturday. The boy's 17-year-old mother, Dominique Calloway, said earlier this week that one of the women, believed to have been Nunn, offered to buy the child for $6,000.
Calloway, a single mother, said she was tempted, but ultimately changed her mind. She said she took a ride home from the women, and they returned to her South Los Angeles home Monday to repeat their offer.
Calloway said the women were seated in a Ford Explorer when she told them she didn't want to sell her son. The passenger in the Explorer then asked to hold the child one more time. When Calloway handed her the baby, the women drove off, dragging the young mother as she held onto the side of the vehicle, police said.
It wasn't clear whether Calloway will regain custody of her son, but police said they independently confirmed her account of what happened. Calloway also has a 2-year-old who has been placed in protective custody.
