Mother and Daughter Convicted in 8-year-long Kidnapping of Child

Two women were convicted of kidnapping an 8 month old boy and hiding him for eight years.

The East Texas Jury spent two hours deliberating before handing down its verdict Tuesday. Walker asked for mercy and insisted that she and her daughter did nothing wrong.

The four day trial centered on Krystle Tanner and her mother, Gloria Walker. In 2004 Tanner took the infant from his Houston apartment while babysitting him.

She and her mother then moved the boy from home to home in central and east Texas to avoid discovery.They kept the child out of school and changed his name.

In April 2010 Tanner’s newborn son tested positive for marijuana, which sparked the investigation that found the missing boy in her care. Both Tanner and Walker were arrested in March 2012.

The defense claimed the boy’s mother sold the boy to the two women before reporting him missing.

The Houston Police investigator testified that she believed the case was not kidnapping, but a custody dispute due to the fact that Tanner and they boy’s parents had, in fact, made an agreement related to his custody.

The boy’s mother, however, claimed it was a kidnapping and that her son was taken, not given, by Tanner.

The boy was placed in foster care before being placed in a home with his four siblings. The Auguillars have been the guardian of the mother’s other children for almost 10 years.

The boy has been told of his true identity and is receiving therapy.