"Kamiyah is now processing what it means for the woman shes known as [her] mother to receive an 18-year prison sentence," he said. Mobleys nickname is Starr. This frustration has led the older Mobley to issue a heart-wrenching ultimatum to her 19-year-old daughter. Robin's new movie will be the first to offer a thorough exploration of the kidnapping and the 18 years Kamiyah spent at the Williams' household. If you need help with WJXTs or WCWJ's FCC public inspection file, call (904) 393-9801. Arika told People that Alexis, or Lexy, as her family and friends knew her, started pestering her mother for her birth certificate and Social Security card in 2015 when she started applying for jobs. If she does and it's a girl, she plans to name her Starr Blessed Faith Mobley. The couple split in 2003. She was healthy. His mother taught government and economics, and his father, as a football coach, taught world history and US history when he was younger. Her Social Security number actually belonged to a Virginia man who died in 1983. She was living a good life. Most play is inside, she said. In March 2016, Colleton County, South Carolina court records show the teen received a ticket for driving without a license, just months prior to her eighteenth birthday. Motherhood, she said, has always been her desire. Kamiyah was reunited with her mother and father, Shanara Mobley and Craig Aiken, just a day after being found. Jobs meant shelter and money. Kamiyah was raised under the alias Alexis Manigo. Then Miss Gloria just broke down and told her, This is why right here, you cant do this. At age 17, most girls just want to have fun. Pretending to be a nurse, Williams kidnapped Kamiyah just hours after the little girls birth at University Hospital, which is now known as UF Health Jacksonville. I dont understand that. I dont feel that she should still be able to contact Kamiyah, and I dont feel that her family should be able to contact my child, she said. So that was of no value whatsoever., They had no photographs, no helpful video images and no vehicle descriptions. I would like to make it very clear that she is my mother, Kamiyah wrote, as reported by WCSC. Still, Mobley said, she feels like the community still faults her, believing she played a part in order to get money from the hospital. Im not saying they werent going to be good parents, Alexis told ABC reporter Eva Pilgrim, referring to Mobley and Aiken. Three days later, Alexiss biological parents, Shanara Mobley and Craig Aiken, would make the three-hour drive from Jacksonville to the Walterboro Police Department to meet their daughter. Write CSS OR LESS and hit save. Williams was sentenced to 18 years in prison in June of 2018. But much of the time she chose not to go. A funny process getting know her sisters and brothers. I will tell you what Gloria did changed hospital facilities forever. Another birthday. In January 2017, she was found alive in Walterboro, South Carolina. The JSO and FBI made the best of what technology offered at the time, including keyword searches on the internet, phones and beepers and hour upon hour of videotape from approximately 65 cameras across the hospital campus. The way that children are transported on maternity wards is different. A woman wearing scrubs who had been lingering around the hospital since the night before came into Room 328 and told the teen mom she was a nurse and had been assigned to care for her and her baby. I didnt know what you went through.. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Mobley was only 15 when she and Aiken conceived Kamiyah. Nine days later her water broke. The teen continues to call Williams behind bars, saving the number of the Duval County Jail in Jacksonville, Fla., in her phone under Mommy, the Daily Mail notes. She forever changed the way we view hospitals.. The father said its unclear when hell visit Williams because of COVID-19 restrictions in prisons. I dont, he continued. She also still goes by the name Williams gave herAlexis Manigoon Facebook and other social media. She still calls her Mommy. We had to open every door on every room on every floor., Luggage had to be searched. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Over the past two years, Craig Aiken says hes watched his daughter grow from a teenager into an adult. I know 18 years might sound like a long time for some people but imagine me going through this for right here for 18 years. Nothing.". We got a 48-hour turnaround, which was outstanding back then. "Though the sentence imposed today was more than we had hoped for, we appreciate the time and attention Judge Aho took to fully consider this matter," Johnson added. The woman who pleaded guilty to kidnapping a baby from a Florida hospital hours after she was born was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison. Shortly after police tracked Kamiyah Mobley down, she met her biological parents, Shanara and Craig Aiken, for the first time. The settlement was sizable. This year there wont be any cake. Im your mother.. She has since had three more children. Williams had worked at a veterans hospital in Charleston at one time, possibly as a social worker or as a medical records specialist. By 13, she was pretty much on her own. They currently do not speak. Kamiyah disappeared from the public eye shortly afterward. Copyright 2023 News4JAX.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Because [Kamiyah] came back, this has made a mockery of my life. She had been pregnant before, when she was 14, but miscarried. By Adam Carlson. I have to start doing things where I dont hurt no more.. Kamiyah Mobley with her biological parents. She worried about the impact of it all on her other children. Im about to start calling her Alexis so I wont be hurt. When called to the witness stand, Mobley lashed out at Williams. He was serving a sentence on an unrelated charge at the time of the sex crimes arrest, and was rearrested in the correctional facility. The exact details of the heinous crime were found out in January 2017, just after the 19-year-old Kamiyah graduated from high school. Each July 10, Shanara Mobley cut a slice of cake for herself and then cut a piece for her missing child, Kamiyah. The fabricated documents, along with two tips relayed to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in August and November of 2016, were key to dismantling the falsehood that, by then, had stretched into its eighteenth year. On the 20th anniversary of the abduction of Kamiyah Mobley from a Jacksonville hospital, the Times-Union andjacksonville.compresent a new podcast, Have You Seen Kamiyah?. Come on now, if I thought it was going to be this hard, I could have got an abortion. ), Arika Williams, the woman whom Alexis was raised to believe was her half-sister, confirmed these witness reports to People magazine. Mobley filled her room at her uncles house with new and used baby clothes and a stark white bassinet gifts from a church as a well as a counselor at the juvenile program. According to the Post and Courier, Williams had left her job at a Charleston nursing home that afternoon in a fog of despair. Mobley never gave up hope that her daughter was alive and would be found. The first time round, Gloria stole my baby by herself. Accompanied by her attorney, Justin Bamberg, Alexis was gracious but guarded in responding to questions about how her life might have differed, if not for thekidnapping. Kamiyah, then 19, was introduced to her biological mother, Shanara Mobley, and father, Craig Aiken, raced to South Carolina following Williams' arrest. Sometimes, it wasnt so splashy. It wasnt just police who considered Mobley a suspect. Kamiyah was found safe in South Carolina in early 2017 when she was 18 years old, after being kidnapped from a Jacksonville hospital as a newborn in 1998. Each year shed buy a cake for the little girl she didnt know. Distractify is a registered trademark. Alexis Manigo was really Kamiyah Mobley. After reading about Kamiyah Mobley, look through these mysterious disappearances that remain puzzling to this day. Im not saying that at all, but it would have been a different life. Schoenfeld teamed up with his FBI cohorts to enlist detectives, officers, special agents and hospital personnel in an exhaustive search for the baby. Since January 2017, the emotions of the soon-to-be-20-year-old woman with two names Kamiyah Mobley and Alexis Manigo have been playing out like some nonstop tug of war. Was she like my kids? Florida State Attorneys OfficeKamiyah Mobley and her kidnapper, Gloria Williams, who raised her as her own child. The warrant further attests that Williams admitted to a friend that she had abducted Alexis from a hospital three hours away in Jacksonville, Florida, when the baby was only eight hours old. As long as she can call her and go see [Williams], thats her momma, Mobley told USA Today in 2018, even saying that she wished Kamiyah had never been found. Kamiyah, at age of 19, had an explosive confrontation with host Iyanla Vanzant. But Manigo's relationship with Mobley is tenuous at best. She self-medicated. First meeting was beautiful, it was wonderful, couldnt [sic] went no better, he told CBS News. Looking into a video camera, Mobley had this to say to her daughter: If you want to be Alexis, be Alexis. And the smiles we gave to each other, Im like, This is my baby. I was anxious. And who knows about next year or the year after that, because only one of Mobleys wishes came true. Its going to be painful on both sides.. Shanara Mobley, Kamiyahs biological mother in Florida, was awarded $1.5 million after settling a lawsuit against the previous University Medical Center. 2023 Cox Media Group. I feel like Im being robbed all over again every time she reaches out to my daughter, she added. She has not shared her weight and other body measurements with the public. I ask for the courts grace and mercy, as I need my mother home.. Family, Parents, Siblings, Education Shanara Mobley, 16, gave birth to Kamiyah on July 10, 1998. When you find out youve got another family out there, its just more love., Protective of the woman who raised her, Alexis told Pilgrim she forgave Williams. Police tracked down Kamiyah, who was going under the name Alexis Manigo, in Walterboro, South Carolina on January 13, 2017.Police in Walterboro matched up the birthday of the missing girl with a different name and fraudulent documents. Im serious. Police chased down 2,000 leads during the first year alone. RELATED: Gloria Williams given 18 years for kidnapping Kamiyah Mobley. Schoenfeld confirms those reports. Gloria Williams stole Kamiyah Mobley from a Jacksonville hospital in July 1998. Others, such as the baby in Connecticut whose DNA was flown to Jacksonville and checked against Kamiyahs, were much more complicated. If you feel any sympathy for me, let her go, please., Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude. Kamiyah Mobley/Alexis Manigo. I know I wronged you and Im so sorry, she told Shanara and Aiken, insisting that she hadnt gone to the hospital meaning to kidnap a baby. She told her family that shed gone into labor at work and given birth to a daughter. She said shed like to have another child. But what may have seemed like a fairy-tale ending to a heartbreaking story is apparently not meant to be. WebKamiyah Teresiah Tasha Mobley was abducted from a Florida hospital on July 10, 1998, when she was only eight hours old. Kamiyah Mobley's disappearance was a cold case for years, until police say she was found living in South Carolina with her accused kidnapper. Then, she walked into Shanaras room and found her with her infant daughter. New court documents that First Coast News uncovered show that Williams filed a motion asking the judge to cut her sentence in half to 9 years. It fits with the behaviors weve seen with these abductors They present themselves as a healthcare worker or a nurse. Though her baby was found and the abductor imprisoned, Shanara Mobley says, 'I dont have a relationship with my child', By Eileen Kelley | The Florida Times-Union. "Nobody spared my feelings for 18 years so why should I spare hers. She tried to kill herself. I mean, I feel nothing. She has accumulated her wealth from her successful career as an actress. But shes so perfect to me.. However, at the end of the day, I love my mother and I wholeheartedly support her! She served as youth-group leader for her Methodist church, which she attended every Sunday. She currently lives with her mother, Shanara Mobley, her father, Craig, and their extended family. So many days so many days so many days I just wanted to pick that child up and say, Come on, lets get in this car and go. I just couldnt. The children in her home shower her with love and attention on Mothers Day. Mobley also learned that when police found her daughter and Williams in Walterboro, S.C., last year, her daughter demanded police return with a search warrant to obtain DNA for testing. DNA testing proved that Kamiyah was not the daughter of Gloria Williams, her abductor. By the time she was whisked away from her mother, tiny Kamiyah had not even had the opportunity to be photographed at the hospital. There should be no safer place than a hospital maternity ward, Lowery says. ", Falcon 9 launches Crew-6 from Cape Canaveral, Almost a dozen people hospitalized after fire onboard Spirit flight that diverted to Jacksonville, Local Weather: The heat holds as windy becomes the weather word Friday, 'I need my mother home': Kamiyah Mobley tells judge she supports early release for her mother, kidnapper, Kamiyah Mobley's father releases new movie trailer, crowdfunding to complete his documentary "Share the Truth"- Craig Aiken, Keystone Heights man sentenced to 55 years in prison for murder of Jordan Cooper. I had everything I needed, wanted. Unbeknownst to Mobley, shed been abducted in 1998 from a Florida hospital just hours after she was born. Shop sales in every category.Uh-oh, overstock: Wayfair put their surplus on sale for up to 50% off. It wasnt then what it is now. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Williams declined to address the media but extends "her appreciation to everyone involved in her defense as well as all of the people who either wrote letters or appeared on her behalf," Williams' attorney, Diana Johnson, said in a statement. Kamiyah went missing at 3 PM, court documents say. Its been over a year since Kamiyah Mobley, who was kidnapped as a newborn, was found alive and well, living happily with the woman who kidnapped her. In 1998, there were no smartphones with cameras to take pictures of newborn babies. Whether the fund for Kamiyah was paid to Shanara in 2016 or if it is still available, is still not disclosed. They said Alexis was both well-mannered and well-read. The high-profile search continued into mid-August 1998, as Schoenfelds squad was taken off of other homicide cases to focus solely on following up the numerous leads from the public regarding missing Kamiyah. She exercised. So, shes not a threat to me Shes nothing to me.. The real estate of Kamiyah Mobley hasnt yet been disclosed in the media. Kamiyah is working on her bond with Shanara. Kamiyahs estimated Net Worth is between $1 million $5 million. There was no social mediano Twitter, Facebook or Amber Alerts to inform the publicjust TV, radio, print media and a fledgling Internet. Im your mother, Kamiyah. After her abductors arrest, the teen said she hoped Williams' sentence would not be a long one. Though these kinds of kidnappings are rare, he has seen a handful of similar long-term abduction cases. We bump heads so much cause we so much alike, Mobley wrote on Facebook with a photo of Shanara in 2021. Aiken says Mobley has plans to go to college and that shes been traveling frequently back and forth from South Carolina to Jacksonville. Later, Shanara was interviewed, pleading for her daughters return. The filing also included a letter from Mobley writing in support of Williams, who she called mom. In May, there was a sentencing hearing. Its time for trying on prom dresses, riding in cars with friends, dreaming of college and that inevitable rite of passage to becoming an adult: filling out job applications. She can reach out to my daughter every daymy sentence wont stop until shes dead., The last time Kamiyah and Shanara spoke was the night before Mothers Day. Her home life was spent bouncing between relatives and friends or lying about her age so she could get live-in babysitting jobs. 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 She blames me for everything. Kamiyah Mobley kidnapping case: Teen tells Gloria Williams 'I love you' in jailhouse letters Authorities released a series of images of evidence in the Kamiyah Mobley case in 2018. An eight-hour-old baby is going to fit in just about any small bag, he continues. Did she always act this way? Its a feeling that you cant explain; its hard to put it in words right now. When she went to school, she went to Eugene Butler Middle. Mobley continued to have children: Christopher, Chrisanna, Savannah and Journye, who, at 3, is the youngest. Your email address will not be published. Thats my first child.. The father says that despite not knowing each other for years, it always feels like Mobley has been part of the family. By doing so, a potential life sentence was off the table and the prosecutor and Williams defense attorney agreed to a sentence of no more than 22 years. The child was left on her own to have a child, and 8-pound Kamiyah was born the next morning. Kamiyah disappeared from the public eye shortly afterward. Men come and go in her life. And thats not all. Not even a text message. Police were able to compile a few sketches of Williams. I'm just trying to spare my feelings," said Aiken. Sometimes, thered be family trip or a big party in honor of the child that wouldnt be there. They showed up in Walterboro, conducted DNA tests, and confirmed the secret that Williams had tried to hide. The judge in the case has not responded to what Williams called her "plea for mercy". Whenever I feel Im winning her back, boom, the other side pulls me down, Shanara Mobley, Kamiyahs biological mom, recently told the Daily Mail. She was sheltered from very little. So do you recommend the maximum sentence the court can give?. At this writing, Williams is charged with kidnapping and custodial interference and is awaiting trial as an inmate in the Duval County jail. I dont have a relationship with my child," she said. To her, its a purpose. At Friday's sentencing, Williams, 52, was given credit for her 511 days of time served. Disappointed. No card. One of the homemade quilts was emblazoned with the name that Williams had already chosen for her unborn baby, Alexis Kelli Manigo. Did she always have this much fun? Aiken said. Every phone call they share, every Mothers Day card Kamiyah sends her, it just makes the pain worse. Stories that inspire. Kamiyah was discovered alive in Walterboro, South Carolina, in January 2017. The Net worth of Kamiyah Mobley is still yet to be revealed. I was ready to go then. Florida State Attorneys OfficeGloria Williams with Alexis Manigo, about a month after shed kidnapped the infant in Florida. In one interview Arika Williams surmises that Gloria Williams may have targeted then-pregnant Mobley at the hospital because she was only 16. She said she gave some of the money away. That was about a six- to seven-hour job right there, Schoenfeld says. Kamiyah has three siblings from her biological mother in Florida. And she expected she would want to gather at times of celebration. On January 17, Jacksonville Sheriffs Office detective Glen Warkentien went to South Carolina and brought Williams back to Jacksonville. Mobley was only 15 when she and Aiken conceived Kamiyah. She shouldnt have never left outta my arms from the beginning, the distraught young mother cried. By December 2017, the young woman began the transition period, splitting her time between Walterboro, S.C., and Jacksonville, Fla. At the time, she described her relationship with her brothers and sisters as peaceful and harmonious. Detective Glen Warkentien went to South Carolina and brought Williams back to Jacksonville 48-hour turnaround, which she every!, about a six- to seven-hour job right there, Schoenfeld says the 19-year-old Kamiyah graduated from high school wishes... Present themselves as a medical records specialist a veterans hospital in Charleston at one,... Beautiful, it always feels like Mobley has been part of the family said she hoped Williams sentence. Were able to compile a few sketches of Williams, her abductor end of the heinous were. 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