Sentencing of woman who stole baby delayed
Published:Friday | February 21, 2025 | 12:10 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
The sentencing of Anneisha Ramsay, who pleaded guilty to stealing a five-week-old baby in 2019 after allegedly agreeing to adopt the infant for $500,000, has been postponed to March 19.
Ramsay pleaded guilty to the charge of child stealing last month. However, when she appeared in the Home Circuit Court on Thursday for sentencing, the court was informed that the social enquiry report was not yet available. As a result, the sentencing was rescheduled, and her bail was extended.
Baby Nyyear Frank was snatched while his mother was walking with him along Rousseau Road in St Andrew on the afternoon of October 13, 2019. The mother was reportedly forced into a vehicle with her baby by men who later took the infant and released her.
On January 22, 2020, the baby was found in Ramsay’s care at a house in Hopewell, St Andrew. She was arrested and charged.
Court documents indicate that Ramsay had allegedly been in contact with the individual who gave her the baby before Nyyear was abducted. It is further alleged that Ramsay was told that she would only need to give the baby’s mother some money.
Following these discussions, Ramsay reportedly did not hear from that person until October 2019, when she was contacted again, and the baby was given to her with the intention of arranging a payment plan. It is also reported that Ramsay was informed that the baby would cost $500,000.
However, Ramsay’s previous attorney, Davion Vassell, maintained that Ramsay was unaware that money was involved in the transaction. He explained that at the time of the offer, Ramsay had recently suffered a miscarriage and was struggling with depression.
“She started to post a lot of sad things on her WhatsApp stories, and one day, when she posted a picture of a mother releasing balloons to the heavens to represent her baby, a friend of hers messaged to ask what was wrong,” Vassell said.
He said that Ramsay told her friend about her pregnancy ending prematurely and that she was depressed. The friend, in return, told her that he knew someone who wanted to give up their baby for adoption.
According to Vassell, two months later, the friend allegedly reached out again, saying he had a baby for Ramsay. Days later, the child, Nyyear, was delivered to her.
In rebuttal, the prosecutor pointed to a statement given by Ramsay in which she said her friend mentioned the cost of the baby before the child was delivered. The prosecutor argued that the baby was given to Ramsay with the understanding that a payment plan for the agreed-upon sum of $500,000 would be arranged.
Attorney-at-law Kayon Atkinson is now representing Ramsay.