Prev: Prozac
Next: 'Baby Joey' takes his first steps to find mother
From: J. on 18 Jul 2008 23:10
Baby Mystery Takes Gruesome Twist
By DAN NEPHIN
,
AP
posted: 1 HOUR 25 MINUTES AGO
comments: 34
PrintShare
filed under: National News


WILKINSBURG, Pa. (July 18) - A body with its hands bound was found
Friday at the apartment of a woman who showed up at a hospital with a
newborn she falsely claimed was her child but later said she had
obtained for $1,000, authorities said.

The body was found in the home of 38-year-old Andrea Curry-Demus,
police said. Authorities would not say whether it was male or female.

Wilkinsburg Police Chief Ophelia Coleman said the body was found lying
face down. She said she didn't know how long it had been there.

Police visited the building Thursday night but did not go into that
apartment, Coleman said. Instead, a relative of Curry-Demus led them
to another apartment, she said.

Earlier Friday, police said they were concerned that the infant's real
mother — described as a thin, black female in her 20s or 30s named
Tina — might be in danger, or need medical attention.
The description was provided by Curry-Demus but authorities aren't
sure how reliable it is because she "has a history of emotional
problems," Coleman said earlier Friday.

Curry-Demus pleaded guilty in 1991 to aggravated assault after
stabbing a Wilkinsburg woman in an alleged plot to steal the woman's
infant. Curry-Demus, then known as Andrea Curry, was sentenced to 10
years' probation.

Allegheny County homicide detectives have taken over the
investigation, but Allegheny County Police Assistant Superintendent
James Morton declined to comment at the scene Friday night.
The mystery started when Curry-Demus showed up at West Penn Hospital
in Pittsburgh on Thursday with a newborn baby, police said. Tests
later proved she was not the mother — despite her claims to the
contrary, police said.

Curry-Demus was arraigned Friday on a child endangerment charge and
jailed until she posts $10,000 bond and undergoes a psychiatric exam.

"I didn't do nothing," Curry-Demus told reporters as she was put into
a police car Thursday.
The baby's umbilical cord was still attached when Curry-Demus arrived
at West Penn, but tests proved she was not the mother — despite her
claims to the contrary, police said.

Curry-Demus then told police she miscarried in June and didn't want to
upset her own mother by telling her she had lost the baby. Curry-Demus
said she befriended a pregnant woman and discussed buying her child
when it was born, according to the criminal complaint.

Curry-Demus told police she paid a woman named Tina $1,000 for the
baby, but authorities have said they don't know how she got the baby.
From: J. on 20 Jul 2008 09:34
On Jul 18, 10:10 pm, "J." <jmd...(a)aol.com> wrote:
> Baby Mystery Takes Gruesome Twist
> By DAN NEPHIN
> ,
> AP
> posted: 1 HOUR 25 MINUTES AGO
> comments: 34
> PrintShare
> filed under: National News
>
> WILKINSBURG, Pa. (July 18) - A body with its hands bound was found
> Friday at the apartment of a woman who showed up at a hospital with a
> newborn she falsely claimed was her child but later said she had
> obtained for $1,000, authorities said.
>
> The body was found in the home of 38-year-old Andrea Curry-Demus,
> police said. Authorities would not say whether it was male or female.
>
> Wilkinsburg Police Chief Ophelia Coleman said the body was found lying
> face down. She said she didn't know how long it had been there.
>
> Police visited the building Thursday night but did not go into that
> apartment, Coleman said. Instead, a relative of Curry-Demus led them
> to another apartment, she said.
>
> Earlier Friday, police said they were concerned that the infant's real
> mother — described as a thin, black female in her 20s or 30s named
> Tina — might be in danger, or need medical attention.
> The description was provided by Curry-Demus but authorities aren't
> sure how reliable it is because she "has a history of emotional
> problems," Coleman said earlier Friday.
>
> Curry-Demus pleaded guilty in 1991 to aggravated assault after
> stabbing a Wilkinsburg woman in an alleged plot to steal the woman's
> infant. Curry-Demus, then known as Andrea Curry, was sentenced to 10
> years' probation.
>
> Allegheny County homicide detectives have taken over the
> investigation, but Allegheny County Police Assistant Superintendent
> James Morton declined to comment at the scene Friday night.
> The mystery started when Curry-Demus showed up at West Penn Hospital
> in Pittsburgh on Thursday with a newborn baby, police said. Tests
> later proved she was not the mother — despite her claims to the
> contrary, police said.
>
> Curry-Demus was arraigned Friday on a child endangerment charge and
> jailed until she posts $10,000 bond and undergoes a psychiatric exam.
>
> "I didn't do nothing," Curry-Demus told reporters as she was put into
> a police car Thursday.
> The baby's umbilical cord was still attached when Curry-Demus arrived
> at West Penn, but tests proved she was not the mother — despite her
> claims to the contrary, police said.
>
> Curry-Demus then told police she miscarried in June and didn't want to
> upset her own mother by telling her she had lost the baby. Curry-Demus
> said she befriended a pregnant woman and discussed buying her child
> when it was born, according to the criminal complaint.
>
> Curry-Demus told police she paid a woman named Tina $1,000 for the
> baby, but authorities have said they don't know how she got the baby.

Update:

Corpse in Pennsylvania baby mystery tentatively identifiedStory
Highlights
NEW: Victim whose uterus was cut open has been tenatively identified

Tenant showed up at hospital with baby that's not hers, police say

Placenta found in apartment, authorities say

Authorities don't know whether victim was baby's mother

Next Article in Crime »




(CNN) -- The body of a woman found tied up with her uterus cut open
inside a Pennsylvania apartment has been tentatively identified.


The medical examiner says the body found in a Pennsylvania apartment
is that of Kia Johnson.

1 of 3 The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office told CNN late
Saturday the body is that of Kia Johnson. Authorities will use dental
records to definitely confirm the identity.

The partially eviscerated body of the woman was found at the apartment
of a Pennsylvania woman who arrived at a hospital with a newborn
infant earlier in the week.

A placenta was found at the scene, the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania,
medical examiner said.

The body "was in a state of moderate decomposition" and the woman had
been dead for about two days, Medical Examiner Karl Williams said in a
written statement.

The woman's hands and feet were bound by duct tape. The cause of death
remains undetermined, Williams said.

Drugs were found at the scene, and authorities are awaiting toxicology
results to determine whether the woman was sedated, he said. It's
unclear whether the woman was alive when the infant was taken, he
added.

"The most important thing right now is to identify this individual,"
said James Morton, assistant superintendent of Allegheny County
Police.

He said investigators are seeking dental records to help with the
identification process.

The body was found Friday at an apartment in Wilkinsburg,
Pennsylvania, belonging to a woman with a history of attempting to
steal newborns, according to court records obtained by Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review.

Andrea Curry-Demus, 38, is charged with endangering the welfare of a
child, a felony, and dealing in infant children, a misdemeanor. Court
records show that she was arraigned on the felony charge Friday and is
next set to appear in court on Thursday. She is being held at the
Allegheny County Jail, WTAE reported.

According to a criminal complaint, Curry-Demus was taken by ambulance
to a local hospital Wednesday with the baby, claiming it was hers.
Tests at the hospital proved that she was not the mother, and police
were notified.

Curry-Demus told Grande she had suffered a miscarriage in June and
"did not want her mother to get upset."

In the complaint, Detective Rich Grande said Curry-Demus told him she
purchased the baby from a woman named Tina for $1,000. Morton said
fingerprint testing had ruled out a woman named Tina Carter, one of
two other pregnant black women who have been reported missing in the
area.

Don't Miss
WTAE: Autopsy provides clues
On Wednesday, Curry-Demus said, Tina showed up with her newborn
wrapped in a towel and left. Curry-Demus said she called medics
because the baby was still "dirty from birth," the complaint said.

The baby is in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said, and will
be released to child welfare workers when he is ready.

Reporters visiting Curry-Demus' apartment earlier Friday had noticed
flies and smelled an odor from the sidewalk below, WTAE said. Police
Chief Ophelia Coleman said the body was not found earlier because
Curry-Demus' sister led them to another apartment.

Friends and relatives said Curry-Demus had told them she was pregnant
for months, even having a baby shower.

"I went to the baby shower and her wedding," Ivee Blunt said. "I had
no idea something like this could happen. I'm totally shocked. And she
was so nice and kind. It's just unbelievable."

But Stephanie Epps, Curry-Demus' sister-in-law, said Curry-Demus would
never allow her to touch her stomach.

"Pregnant women do things like that," she said. "They're happy because
they're pregnant. But she would never do none of that."

As she was led out of the Wilkinsburg Police Department, Curry-Demus
told reporters, "I didn't do nothing," according to WTAE.

According to court records obtained by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,
Curry-Demus became pregnant at 12 and miscarried four months later.
She had a second miscarriage in 1990, when she was 21, the paper said.

Only a few months after the second miscarriage, Curry-Demus befriended
a woman who had just given birth but later attacked her with a knife
and tried to steal the baby, the paper said, citing the court
records.

The woman's husband intervened, and she fled, the newspaper reported.

The next day, she went to a hospital and befriended a woman who had
brought her 3-week-old daughter to the hospital to be treated for
meningitis, the Tribune-Review said.

When the woman went home for the night, Curry-Demus left the hospital
with the baby. It was found at her home, unharmed, the following day.

In 1991, according to the records, she pleaded guilty to various
charges stemming from both incidents and was sentenced to three to 10
years in prison, the newspaper reported.

She was paroled in August 1998 and ordered to serve 10 years of
probation, the paper said.

Curry-Demus was examined by psychiatrists at the Allegheny County Jail
before her sentencing and was diagnosed with severe depression,
personality disorders and auditory hallucinations, the newspaper
reported, citing court records.

She told doctors she spent a lot of time thinking about her
miscarriages and "kept hearing babies cry," the Tribune-Review said.

Wilkinsburg is just east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Earlier this year, a Kansas woman was sentenced to death in the 2004
killing of a Missouri woman whose baby was cut from her womb.

Lisa Montgomery was convicted in October in the death of Bobbie Jo
Stinnett, 23, who was found strangled in her Skidmore, Missouri, home.
Stinnett's womb was cut open, and her unborn child was missing.
Montgomery was found days later at home in Kansas, where she was
attempting to pass the baby off as her own.
From: Greegor on 21 Jul 2008 02:51
http://www.babylovechild.org/

Husband charged for molesting an ex-girlfriend's daughter..
It doesn't say if that was in the works before
this incident took place.
Coincidence?
Could be a false allegation, the PILING ON effect.

endangerment is a felony but
dealing in infants is only a misdemeanor??

Baby selling is only a MISDEMEANOR??
From: kippaherring on 21 Jul 2008 10:27
Tragic and pathetic at the same time.
It beats me that this woman was allowed out on the streets, when it's
pretty clear she was still a real danger to pregnant women, new
mothers and their babies.
Especially considering US prisons are bursting at the seams with non-
violent drug offenders.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/20/baby.mystery/index.html

" According to court records obtained by the Pittsburgh Tribune-
Review, Curry-Demus became pregnant at 12 and miscarried four months
later. She had a second miscarriage in 1990, when she was 21, the
paper said.

Only a few months after the second miscarriage, Curry-Demus befriended
a woman who had just given birth but later attacked her with a knife
and tried to steal the baby, the paper said, citing the court records.
The woman's husband intervened, the newspaper reported, and she fled.

The next day, she went to a hospital and befriended a woman who had
brought her 3-week-old daughter to the hospital to be treated for
meningitis, the Tribune-Review said. When the woman went home for the
night, Curry-Demus left the hospital with the baby. It was found at
her home, unharmed, the following day.

In 1991, according to the records, she pleaded guilty to various
charges stemming from both incidents and was sentenced to three to 10
years in prison, the newspaper reported. She was paroled in August
1998 and ordered to serve 10 years of probation, the paper said.

The newspaper reported, citing court records, that Curry-Demus was
examined by psychiatrists at the Allegheny County Jail before her
sentencing and was diagnosed with severe depression, personality
disorders and auditory hallucinations. She told doctors she spent a
lot of time thinking about her miscarriages and "kept hearing babies
cry," the Tribune-Review said. "
From: J. on 21 Jul 2008 12:57
On Jul 21, 1:51�am, Greegor <Greego...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.babylovechild.org/
>
> Husband charged for molesting an ex-girlfriend's daughter..
> It doesn't say if that was in the works before
> this incident took place.
> Coincidence?
> Could be a false allegation, the PILING ON effect.
>
> endangerment is a felony but
> dealing in infants is only a misdemeanor??
>
> Baby selling is only a MISDEMEANOR??

I have no idea how what you are talking about ties into this thread.
Even if there were some mention of someone's husband having been
charged with molestation, it seems pretty bizarre to me that you would
focus on that and the possibility of false allegations and "piling on"
rather than the horrific event that occurred here: a young woman was
brutally murdered by an obviously severely deranged woman, in order to
literally tear a child from the womb. That the perpetrator's
tendencies in this direction were first known so long ago and that she
appears to have been released from probation ony recently bespeaks
serious potential failures in our criminal justice and mental health
systems. (It could be something as simple as Curry-Demus having
discontinued meds as soon as having been released from probation.)

In any event, try to step back from your own monomaniacal obsessions
for a moment, will ya?

J.
 | 
Pages: 1
Prev: Prozac
Next: 'Baby Joey' takes his first steps to find mother