My Friend Had a Miscarriage Then Kidnapped My Baby and Fronted Him As Her Own - Woman Alleges

 

 

A young woman, Kimberly Jamieson, has revealed how her friend stole her newborn baby and passed him off as her own after pretending she had given birth but she had really suffered a miscarriage.

 

Daily Mail reports that 24-year-old Kimberly, from Hamilton, South Auckland, was mother to two-year-old Kylah and eight-week-old Konan when she let Tequila Matekohi-Samuels stay for the night.

 

It was only when her son went missing the next morning, and a frantic police search ensued, that it was discovered Tequila - who had told Kimberly she was still pregnant - had taken Konan.

 

Tequila, then 18, was a family friend who Kimberly invited to stay the night in October 2014. She recalled letting her friend hold her baby, saying: 'Tequila had told me she was pregnant so she was the perfect person to have a cuddle.' 

 

The pair stayed up chatting while Kimberly's mother watched over the children.

 

Kimberly said: 'Tequila wanted to know everything about my baby boy – how much he ate, how much he slept. She also asked me if my partner Harley Boyte, was a heavy sleeper. "That’s a strange question," I thought.'

 

 

The following morning, Harley mentioned that Tequila had been standing outside Konan’s room at 4am when he got up to go to the toilet. When questioned, she said she was just 'checking on the baby'.

 

Kimberly said: 'I’d thought Tequila would be heading home in the morning but as afternoon approached she was still here. Around midday I put Konan down for his nap and returned to the living room to watch TV with my family.'

 

Kimberly recalled how Tequila then claimed to have received a call from one of her relatives who was in trouble, and that she had to go, before fleeing the room. She returned just 15 minutes later, saying she had forgotten her wallet, before asking to 'cuddle the baby one last time'. Only then, when they went into Konan's bedroom, did Kimberly realise he was missing.

 

She said: 'As I approached the bed I did a double take. I lifted the pillows and pulled back the blankets, thinking he might have somehow slipped beneath them. But there was no sign of my precious boy.'

 

She added: 'Harley told me he hadn’t been in the room at all. In that moment, time seemed to stop. My baby was missing.' 

 

Kimberly recalled running frantically around the house, searching every room, when Tequila pointed out that their back door was open - despite Kimberly saying she had locked it the night before.

 

She then ran from house to house, begging neighbours to help her find her boy. She said: 'Everyone rushed to help but no one had seen anything suspicious. The police were called and Tequila offered to speak to them as I couldn’t form words through my sobs.' 

 

 

A distraught Kimberly and Harley left their daughter with a neighbour, and headed to the local police station. But while they were en route, they were informed that a baby boy had been handed into the station.

 

When they got there, it was Konan. Kimberly recalled: 'I have never felt such intense relief in my life. We were still completely in the dark about what happened. But there was a shock still to come.'

 

That very same day, the couple were told that Tequila had been arrested. Seven months later, in May 2015, Tequila Matekohi-Samuels appeared at Hamilton District Court, charged with kidnapping.

 

The court heard that while Tequila had been pregnant, she’d miscarried early on. However unable to share what had happened with other people, she wore baggy clothes and continued the lie without suspicion.

 

Tequila was sentenced to four and a half months' home detention for kidnapping. 

 

Sentencing Tequila, judge Emma Smith described the kidnapping as ‘chilling’ and admonished her for not immediately revealing what she had done to Konan’s ‘terrified and distressed’ parents.