Woman accused of kidnapping infant from hospital to face charges

A woman accused of snatching a newborn from a hospital in the middle of the night and hiding her 100 miles (160 kilometers) away in New Mexico was being held in Texas to face a kidnapping charge.

Photo: Woman accused of kidnapping infant from hospital to face charges

Rayshaun Parson, 21, was extradited from New Mexico to Texas and was being held Monday at the Lubbock County Jail for the U.S. Marshals Service. She is scheduled for an initial appearance in federal court Tuesday in Lubbock.

Parson also could face fugitive from justice charges in New Mexico, police have said.

Police found Mychael Darthard-Dawodu, then 4 days old, in Clovis, New Mexico, on Sunday, a day after she was taken from Lubbock's Covenant Lakeside Hospital, the AP says.

The infant did not utter a peep as her mother, Caisha Darthard, gently stroked her cheek during a news conference in Lubbock Monday.

"We're just happy to have her back," said the little girl's grandfather, Darrell Darthard.

The family took no questions.

"It's not that we're not grateful," Darrell Darthard said. "We just want some privacy with the family and to spend some time with her."

Baby Mychael was taken from her mother's hospital early Saturday by a woman posing as a medical worker who walked out of Covenant Lakeside with the infant hidden in her purse, police said.

Law enforcement officials received information from more than one source that thebaby was in Clovis, authorities said. Police found the girl in a home with a woman early Sunday, Lubbock police Lt. Scott Hudgens said. Parson was found at another home, he said.

Parson had told people at an apartment complex in Clovis that she was pregnant, "but never really was," according to an FBI affidavit describing the statement of a woman who tipped police Saturday.

Phone numbers at Parson's address were disconnected. FBI spokeswoman Lori Bailey in Dallas declined to comment.

Mychael was flown home to her mother and her father, Michael A. Dawodu, after she was evaluated at a New Mexico hospital.

Parson has had dealings with the law before. In May 2004, a protective order was issued against her in a domestic violence incident involving a boyfriend, according to New Mexico online court documents, the AP says.

In January 2005, she was charged with fraud, according to court documents. A call seeking information about the case was not returned Monday.

Covenant Lakeside says it places identification bands on infants and parents immediately at birth and refers to "a number of other security measures" on its Web site. Gwen Stafford, senior vice president of Covenant Health System, said the hospital plans to further tighten security.