Woman abducted at birth pleads for kidnapper’s freedom: ‘I need my mother home’
‘I ask for the court’s grace and mercy, as I need my mother home,’ writes Kamiyah Mobley, 23
A woman who was abducted at birth is now pleading for the early release of her kidnapper, whom she considers her real mother.
Kamiyah Mobley, 23, was raised as Alexis Manigo by her abductor, Gloria Williams. Prosecutors say that in 1998, Williams impersonated a nurse at a Florida hospital and snatched Ms Mobley just hours after she was born. Twenty years later, Williams pleaded guilty to the kidnapping, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
But in a handwritten letter to the judge, obtained by WJAX, Ms Mobley said she wants Williams to get out early.
“I ask for the court’s grace and mercy, as I need my mother home,” the young woman wrote in September 2021. “I would like to make it very clear that she is my mother. She raised me, and not only provided for my needs, but she loved me unconditionally.”
Ms Mobley wrote the note in support of Williams’ motion for a reduced sentence, which she submitted in December. In Williams’ own letter to the judge, she suggested nine years in prison and nine years of felony probation (instead of the full 18 years behind bars), citing her good behavior and devotion to her “daughter.”
“I realize what the devil meant for bad, God is turning it around for his good,” the convict wrote. “Kamiyah is still a part of my life as is expressed in a letter she wrote (attached), and I always want to do what is in her best interest.”
The judge has not yet ruled on the motion.
Police tracked down Ms Mobley in 2017, thanks to a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In Walterboro, South Carolina, they found 18-year-old Alexis Manigo, a young woman whose documents turned out to be fake and whose birthdate matched the missing child’s. When police tested her DNA, they realized she was Ms Mobley.
The teenager was then reunited with her biological parents in a tearful meeting, 18 years after she was taken from them.
“First meeting was beautiful, it was wonderful, couldn’t have gone any better... she was glad to meet us,” Craig Aiken, Ms Mobley’s biological father, said at the time. “We are just trying to process it, 18 years. It’s going to be hard to make that up.”
But even as Ms Mobley develops a relationship with her genetic parents, she has expressed very firmly that to her, Williams is her mother.
“I am fully aware of how our lives came to be, what they are, and how my mom came to be my mom,” the young woman wrote in her letter. “I understand that none of this modifies the truth of the past, nor does it justify my mom’s actions in any way. However, at the end of the day, I love my mother and I wholeheartedly support her.”
