A Texas woman shopping at a Walmart was arrested last week for allegedly offering to buy another customer’s baby, local outlet KETK reported.
The incident reportedly occurred at a Walmart in Crockett, Texas, which is north of Houston. An unnamed woman was in the self-checkout line with her two children – a baby and a 1-year-old – when 49-year-old Rebecca Lanette Taylor approached and commented on her baby son’s blonde hair and blue eyes. She then asked how much she could purchase him for, claiming that she had $250,000 in her car. The mother told her no amount of money would do.
“Taylor continued to bring up the topic, and the mother told her to stay away from her son. Taylor said she had been looking forward to buying a baby for some time, according to law enforcement,” KETK’s report stated.
The mother informed police that another woman joined Taylor and asked what the child’s name was. The mother did not give them her child’s name. However, Taylor and the other woman somehow knew the child’s name and “called it out” KETK reported.
“In the parking lot, ‘Taylor began screaming at (the mom) saying if she wouldn’t take $250,000 for him, then she would give her $500,000 because she wanted him and she was going to take him,’ said the affidavit,” KETK reported.
The mother alerted authorities, who watched the surveillance video. Authorities then went to Taylor’s residence to ask her questions about the incident.
Taylor was arrested and charged with sale or purchase of a child, a third-degree felony in Texas, and was released from the Houston County Sheriff's Office on a $50,000 bond on Thursday, NBC-affiliated KPRC-TV reported.
KETK noted that according to the Texas Penal Code, “An individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the third degree shall be punished by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than 10 years or less than two years. In addition to imprisonment, an individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the third degree may be punished by a fine not to exceed $10,000.”