Four suspects, including the girl's father, say the case is a custody matter gone wrong.
By MIKE BRASSFIELD
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 6, 1999
ST. PETERSBURG -- Baby Kianna, the 4-month-old girl abducted from her mother in Massachusetts last week, returned there in her mother's arms Wednesday as the last of four kidnapping suspects turned himself in to St. Petersburg police.
All four suspects -- Kianna's father, his sister and friend, and the baby's godmother -- are pleading innocent. They say this is a custody dispute gone awry. At least one is blaming a fellow defendant, Kianna's father.
Kianna was reunited with her mother, 20-year-old Sheri Hill, after the baby's paternal grandmother handed her over to police Tuesday at a Tampa television station. The mother and daughter flew Wednesday morning to Boston.
The baby was abducted Friday night in her mother's hometown of Haverhill, Mass., after her mother moved back there from Tampa.
Kianna's father, 26-year-old Komunyaka Todd of Tampa, and Tracey Townsend of St. Petersburg, were quickly arrested in Haverhill. They have pleaded innocent to kidnapping and are being held on $1-million and $500,000 bail, respectively.
Kianna's aunt, Tiombe Todd, 25, of St. Petersburg, brought the baby back to the Tampa Bay area and turned herself in Tuesday.
The fourth suspect was the Todds' friend, Enden "L.A." Reed, 26. He turned himself in to St. Petersburg police Wednesday.
Tiombe Todd and Reed are being held without bail in the Pinellas County Jail and are to face kidnapping charges in Massachusetts.
Tiombe Todd left a letter with her boyfriend, Gary Whipple of Tampa, in which she said her brother, Komunyaka Todd, had misled the other three by telling them he was going to legally take custody of Kianna in Massachusetts.
Reed also plans to plead his innocence, said his mother, Gloria Reed. "He never had the baby. He separated himself from them once he realized what was going on," she said. Sheri Hill flew to Florida when she learned her daughter was safe. Child-protection workers had Kianna examined by doctors, and Hill got temporary custody of her pending a Massachusetts hearing.
"The baby is healthy. Everything is finally coming to an end. I'm happy," Hill said.- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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