LOS ANGELES – A wealthy woman accused of kidnapping a 7-week old baby was adopting him, her lawyer said, but police claim she took the baby after his teenage mother rejected her offer to buy him.
Annette Pinkard, a 47-year-old real estate professional from the Dallas area, is being held in Texas along with her cousin, Sylvia Nunn, 53.
Authorities say the women saw Devon Calloway with his mother, Dominique Calloway, 17, at a store last month and offered to buy the child for $6,000. Calloway said that though tempted, she refused the offer, but let the women drive her home.
Two days later, the women returned to repeat their offer and drove off when Calloway allowed them to hold Devon, authorities said. They were arrested May 24.
Pinkard's attorney, Scottie Allen, disputed that account.
He said his client and Nunn, who lives in Compton, came across Devon's 2-year-old sister "unaccompanied and running around outside." They found the mother, went home with her to her fetid duplex and offered to adopt both children, he said.
Calloway agreed to let Devon go and Pinkard had her sign a form relinquishing her parental rights, Allen said. Pinkard planned to return to California to apply to a court for adoption, he said.
She was "scared to death" when she learned about the kidnapping investigation while driving back to Texas with Devon, he said.
Dominique Calloway denied allowing her baby to be taken.
"I didn't sign no papers. They lie," she said.
Pinkard and Nunn are charged with one count each of kidnapping and child stealing, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, and face extradition to California.
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