‘I wish they never would have found her’: Mother of infant raised by kidnapper for 18 years says daughter made ‘mockery’ of her life

Mother Shanara Mobley reportedly cut ties with daughter Kamiyah, 20, for talking to her jailed abductor mom

The mother of a Florida woman kidnapped at birth and raised by her abductor for 18 years expressed resentment toward the daughter she spent nearly two decades looking for.

Speaking with the Florida Times-Union on the 20th anniversary of her daughter’s abduction, Shanara Mobley recalled cutting a slice of cake every July 10 for Kamiyah, unsure if she was even alive.

A 16-year-old Shanara gave birth to Kamiyah at a Jacksonville, Florida, hospital in 1998. Gloria Willams posed as a nurse and took the infant—even speaking with the disoriented new mother before leaving with her baby in tow. Officers later accused Shanara of selling her own daughter.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Williams was sentenced in June to 18 years for abducting the child she named Alexis Manigo and raised in South Carolina until 2017. Williams reportedly told Kamiyah about her kidnapping two years before her arrest.

READ More: Kamiyah Mobley: Biological mom says she cut ties with teen for speaking to kidnapper who raised her

According to the Times-Union, the hospital ultimately settled with Shanara for $1.2 million. But she claims she used some of the money to buy a home she lost in foreclosure and gave some of it away. To add to her stress, she said she’s seen many people on social media side with the woman who kidnapped her daughter—demonizing her in the process.

The ordeal has led Shanara to accuse her own daughter and a jailed Williams of conspiring to destroy her life.

“This is what Gloria [Williams] and Kamiyah brought upon my children. And I truly feel it in my heart; I just wish she would not have come back. I really do. Because [Kamiyah] came back, this has made a mockery of my life,” Shanara told the newspaper.

Shanara was initially hopeful that Williams’ imprisonment would open the door for Kamiyah and her to start a mother-daughter relationship. But what happened instead was a very-public battle that played out in tabloids and shows like “Iyanla: Fix My Life.”

Shanara never concealed her hatred toward Williams. In fact, she argued that the convicted kidnapper should’ve faced the death penalty. But the Florida mother’s story grabbed headlines last month when she revealed that she cut ties with her then-teen daughter for talking to the woman that raised her for 18 years.

Shanara said she’s come to the painful realization that, as long as Kamiyah has contact with Williams, they will never live life as mother and daughter.

“If you want to be Alexis, be Alexis. If you want to be her child, be her child,” she said.

“This is a battle that I can’t keep fighting. This is a battle that nobody is going to win.”

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