KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Missouri day care provider accused of taking a baby to Arkansas to arrange for her adoption without the knowledge of the girl's parents has been charged with attempted kidnapping.
Lasonya Poindexter, 30, of Joplin, Mo., was charged Thursday. Her plot fell apart in July when the would-be adoptive parents, Laura and Garry Parton, became suspicious and reached out to the baby's birth parents, Ashley and Christian Still, on Facebook, an affidavit said.
The Stills confirmed they had not put their baby up for adoption and didn't know Poindexter had taken their baby at least four times to Lincoln to meet the Partons, the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, the Partons wanted to adopt after Laura Parton suffered a miscarriage.
A message left at their home wasn't immediately returned. The Stills don't have a listed phone number.
The affidavit said Poindexter asked for money for the baby's care during one visit to the Partons' home, which is in Washington County, about 90 miles south of Joplin.
Poindexter's attorney didn't immediately return phone or email messages. Poindexter is in federal custody pending a detention hearing Tuesday.
The affidavit said Poindexter first contacted the Arkansas couple through a friend in June and began making arrangements for them to adopt the infant girl, who along with a sibling, was being left in her care a few days a week.
Poindexter's trips to Arkansas so the couple could bond with the baby lasted two to three hours each, the affidavit said.
Poindexter told the Partons that she had been given the child to care for and that the baby had been conceived through a rape, something Ashley Still said is a lie, according to the affidavit. Poindexter also told them that the baby's mother wanted a "closed" adoption so she wouldn't know who was adopting the child, the affidavit said.
The Arkansas couple began buying things for the baby and preparing a nursery, according to the affidavit. Poindexter reportedly told Laura Parton via Facebook Messenger that she was "glad" the girl "finally has parents who adore her," adding that the baby "deserves so much more than she is getting."
The Stills and Partons confronted Poindexter, the affidavit said. It said she responded to the Arkansas couple by forwarding a screen shot of an email that appeared to be from an attorney working on the adoption paperwork. She reportedly told the baby's parents that the would-be adoptive mother was the current girlfriend of her ex-boyfriend who was trying to ruin her day care business.
Under questioning, Poindexter tried to shift the blame to her 16-year-old sister, suggesting that the teen may have used her Facebook accounts to set up the sham adoption, the affidavit said.
Poindexter later admitted to investigators that she knew she didn't have permission to take the girl to Arkansas and that she had considered giving the Partons another baby in her care, the affidavit said.
NW News on 09/16/2017