Tampabay: Woman defends taking child

Romero said she was living in North Carolina when her brother and mother called to ask her to care for the child because the mother, Lazalia "Sissy" Urick, could not.

"They (her family) asked me if I would take her, and I did," Romero said.

"Sissy and them are trying to make me seem like I'm this God-awful woman. But let me ask her, where are her (other) children."

Romero, 39, was being held Saturday at Johnston County Jail, south of Raleigh, N.C. Bail was set at $1-million after her arrest last week on felony child abduction charges.

Urick told the St. Petersburg Times on Friday that she was 17 and living out of a van when Crystal was born.

She turned to the Romeros for help to temporarily take care of Crystal until she could get back on her feet.

She and the Crystal's father, Ernest Barnett, reunited two years ago. They are living south of Brooksville and planning to drive to North Carolina on Monday for a reunion with their daughter.

A hearing is set for Tuesday to determine who will get custody of Crystal, who is now in state care.

Urick's other two children are in the care of family and friends because, she said, her life was too unsettled when they were younger and she didn't want to move them around.

Her 21/2-year-old son drowned last year after wandering out of her home in Sumter County and into a neighbor's swimming pool.

Romero said that she has had Crystal's best interests at heart.

"You can't play games with children's lives," she said.

During her seven-year odyssey with the child, Romero said, she never dodged Urick. Romero said she was living in Johnston County, N.C., when her sister brought Crystal to her in the spring of 1994.

Romero also denied that she skipped town after promising to meet Urick in July 1994 to return Crystal.

She said Urick asked to see Crystal at that time, but Romero told her she was getting married on that date and couldn't make it.

About a month later, Romero said, she moved to Mexico, her husband's birthplace, to receive cheaper medical treatment.

After a few years in Mexico, she said, she lived for a year in Hernando County. She then returned to the Raleigh area for about three years before her landlord agreed to rent her a bigger home in Wendell, east of Raleigh, where she has lived with Crystal, her husband and a niece and nephew for the past few months.

Police tracked her down at her job at a Burger King in Raleigh and arrested her Wednesday night.

She said she is not aware of any effort by Urick to see Crystal in all that time.

Urick could not be reached Saturday. But Barnett had some harsh words for Romero on Saturday.

"Everything she's telling you is nothing but a lie," Barnett said. Not only did Urick let the Romero family know she wanted the baby back, he said, but he visited the house in east Hernando County.

"I went to Kathy's mom's house and told them I want my daughter," he said. "They wouldn't tell me one iota where she was."

The drowning of Urick's son was not her fault, he said. And she gave up custody of the others because she couldn't support them.

"She thought she was doing the best thing for her kids," he said.

Meanwhile, Crystal's friends in Wendell are left wondering what became of the spirited blond who is fluent in both English and Spanish.

They remember her as a take-charge youngster who liked to jump on the outdoor trampoline and play schoolteacher on her family's chalkboard, handing out assignments to friends.

"She said she wanted to be a teacher," said 8-year-old Diana Murillo, who lives across the street from where Crystal had lived and was a playmate.

She said she wishes she could talk to her again or write a letter. "But I don't know her address," she said.

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