A Bartow County baby’s abduction captured metro Atlanta’s attention Wednesday as an Amber Alert put citizens on the lookout for the missing child.
After a wild, three-county police chase that ended in a collision with the child in the back seat, young William Kaidyn Stover was returned safely to his mother, only to be put in the custody of the Division of Family and Child Services
And on Friday, William’s mother, Kristen Howard, consented to leave her 8-month-old with DFCS, after admitting during a juvenile court hearing that she used drugs with the woman accused of taking her son.
“She [Howard] agreed that there was probable cause to believe that the child is deprived in her care based on her drug use,” Bartown County Judge Velma C. Tilley told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “She said she was under the influence of drugs that night.”
When reunited with her son Wednesday evening, Howard wished firey retribution on her “former friend” Samantha Barrett.
Police say Barrett drove away with William and still had him at the time of the police chase.
Now Howard could permanently lose her child because of her own actions.
“She said she was in fact using while driving around with this woman,” Tilley said.
A hearing is scheduled for later this month with DFCS officials on the custody of William.
“The department is not going to accept her consent,” Tilley said. “(Howard’s) substance abuse is their main concern. They will have to prove their case.”
Tilley said Howard has identified family members who she would want to have custody of the baby.
William’s father is incarcerated, the judge said.
According to a December 2011 police arrest records obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Howard, then 19, was charged with underaged drinking, simple assault and family violence for punching and kicking her 53-year-old great-aunt after allegedly stealing beer from her grandparents.
Barrett was arrested Wednesday after she led police on a high-speed chase that ended in a wreck.
William was unharmed in the wreck and returned to his mother. Later that evening, he was placed in the custody of DFCS.
Barrett remains in the Henry County Jail on $20,000 bond. She is facing charges of felony child cruelty, felony eluding police, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.
She also faces charges in Bartow County that include felony kidnapping and auto theft. She was on probation in Cobb County for possession of stolen Oxycodone pain medication, court and jail records show.
The hearing is scheduled for Aug. 29 at 10 a.m., in Tilley’s courtroom in Cartersville.
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