A woman accused of abducting a 2-year-old girl from a day care center Friday afternoon has been charged with the toddler's kidnapping. Investigators say the suspect, 21-year-old Raeshala Rhylette Morris, had recently been hired at the day care and was working as a trainee. When another day care employee went to the restroom, the trainee left with the toddler, according to officers.
The child was found safe a few hours after the abduction occured. Working on a tip, police found Morris carrying the child as she walked down the street at Club Creek and Bissonnet. She was questioned and taken into police custody.
Morris had her own daughter taken away by the state agency CPS three months ago.
CPS spokeswoman Gwen Carter said the woman’s 2-year-old is with foster parents. She was removed from Morris' home because of “physical neglect," according to Carter.
It doesn't appear that Morris harmed 21-month-old K.K. Thacker. The child was reunited with her mother at the day care center where she had been abducted earlier Friday. It was a tearful reunion with a crowd of TV news cameras surrounding K.K.'s family.
Day care workers and family members broke out in an impromptu dance and song.
"I go to work entrusting that she's going to be OK with day care," Shamika Thacker, the toddler's shaken mother told 11 News shortly after her daughter was reported missing.
Other frantic family members also rushed to the scene when they heard about the abduction.
At one point, there was an emotional confrontation between the relatives and the day care owner. When she tried to leave the day care, the child's family members attempted to pull her from her van.
K.K.'s father was briefly handcuffed and put in a patrol car, but he was released a short time later.
Another dramatic scene unfolded when police thought they had found the missing child and her abductor at a Metro transit center.
K.K.'s mother was rushed to the scene in an HPD patrol car to confirm it was her daughter. She fell to her knees, then collapsed when she realized police had the wrong child.
The mother of the other child was quickly released. "Thank you, Jesus, thank you!" she shouted as she walked away after being handcuffed and detained at the transit center. "I hope she find her baby cause I understand, but thank you Jesus."
A check on the day care found it has been cited for not properly checking employees' backgrounds.