Woman admits to kidnapping girl as a newborn and raising her for 18 years

Gloria Williams pleaded guilty Monday morning in a Jacksonville, Florida, court to charges related to stealing a newborn baby girl nearly two decades earlier and raising the child as her own.

Williams, 52, agreed to plead guilty to kidnapping and interference. In exchange, she faces no more than 22 years on the kidnapping charge and no more than five years on the interference charge. The South Carolina woman faced life in prison before the plea agreement, according to WJXT.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Williams was accused of posing as an employee and kidnapping Kamiyah Mobley, now 19, from University Hospital, now known as UF Health Jacksonville. Williams named the girl Alexis Manigo and raised her as her own in South Carolina, according to reports.

READ More: Kamiyah Mobley: In newly released video, teen hugs the woman accused of kidnapping her as a newborn

Williams’ stepdaughter is believed to have tipped off the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“I don’t trust Ms. Gloria, there’s something sneaky about her,” Williams’ stepdaughter said, according to ABC News.

The Florida Times-Union reported that the kidnapped girl had difficulty obtaining a driver’s license as a teen because she lacked a birth certificate or Social Security card. Williams reportedly told Mobley the truth two years before her arrest.

Williams was arrested after Mobley’s DNA matched that of a kidnapped baby.

Neither Manigo nor her birth parents were present in court Monday, according to The Times-Union. However, prosecutor Alan Mizrahi said he expects they will testify at Williams’ sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for May 3 and 4.

 

 

[Featured image: Kamiyah Mobley, Gloria Williams/Facebook]