A Woman Already Charged With Kidnapping a Newborn is Now a Suspect in the Case of Missing Georgia Sisters

Five years before police found two Georgia sisters crying inside a locked trailer, Lakesha Shanta Brown, 42, was allegedly at the center of another kidnapping case involving a mother, a newborn and a relationship built on trust.

In August 2021, Brown was charged with first-degree kidnapping after four-day-old Kamarion Taylor disappeared from a home in Fairfield, Alabama. According to WBMA, Brown was a family friend who was at the home with the baby, his mother and grandmother. The mother, who was feeling ill, went to rest. When she woke up, Brown and the newborn were gone.

Kamarion was eventually found safe at a home in Lipscomb, Alabama, and was returned to his mother. Brown, meanwhile, faced a kidnapping warrant but was released on bond, according to WVTM 13. She had an outstanding warrant in Alabama for failing to appear in connection with the case.

In a third incident, Paulding County Sheriff Ashley Henson confirmed to WSB-TV that Brown will be charged with a misdemeanor obstruction charge. According to the outlet, Brown allegedly sent pictures of what appeared to be her deceased infant to the child’s alleged father. He then called for a welfare check.

Paulding County police said she faked her pregnancy.

Atlanta investigators say information uncovered in the Alabama and Paulding County cases suggests Brown allegedly attempted this type of behavior before.

Then came the most recent case in Georgia.

RELATED: New Development in Gucci Mane, Pooh Shiesty Kidnapping Case

According to an Atlanta police affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, Brown allegedly used a strikingly similar route into another mother’s life. She met Elica Redding through Facebook, presenting herself as part of a support system for mothers that offered babysitting. Over roughly a year, the women communicated and spent time together. Redding told investigators that Brown gained her trust, according to the records.

That trust eventually gave Brown access to Redding’s two daughters, 4-year-old Zola Cooper and 11-month-old Norah Cooper.

On Aug. 15, Redding said she agreed to let Brown babysit the girls, WSB-TV reported. Brown allegedly told her they would go to Walmart and “Candy Utopia.” Instead, according to investigators, Brown failed to return them.

When Redding repeatedly called, Brown allegedly offered excuses. Eventually, Redding demanded her children back, and Brown allegedly told her she had been in an accident and claimed the girls were at the Department of Family and Children Services. There was no record of the children being there, nor were they found at area hospitals, police reported.

Brown then allegedly stopped answering calls and messages. For Atlanta police, the similarities to the Alabama case were hard to ignore. According to PEOPLE, one detective described Brown’s alleged method as “identical.”

The search for the Georgia sisters ended two days later when investigators traced Brown to a trailer in Atlanta. A detective checking vehicles in the area heard a baby crying. Inside the locked trailer, police found Zola and Norah alive.

The girls were taken to a hospital for evaluation and later reunited with their family. Brown was arrested, and while in custody, investigators say she made an admission that raises even more questions.

According to the affidavit, she waived her Miranda rights and spoke with police. Brown allegedly acknowledged that the children had been in her custody and admitted she should have returned them when their mother asked her to, according to PEOPLE. Investigators said she did not give a motive for why she allegedly failed to return them.

Brown now faces two counts each of kidnapping and first-degree cruelty to children in Georgia. The allegations against her have not been proven in court.