Lakesha Brown was already facing a kidnapping case involving a 4-day-old baby when Atlanta police say she disappeared with two little sisters she had been hired to watch for the first time.
The 42-year-old babysitter missed a May trial in Alabama over the alleged 2021 abduction of newborn Kamarion Taylor, prosecutors said, and Fulton County jail paperwork later listed another Georgia warrant tied to a bizarre baby investigation in Paulding County.
Her latest case ended Monday inside a sweltering trailer, where Atlanta officers rescued 4-year-old Zola Cooper and her 11-month-old sister, Norah, after Detective Stancil heard signs of children inside.
“I believe I heard what sounded almost like a baby cooing,” Stancil said.
The sound came after police had surrounded the trailer, called Brown’s name and gotten no response. A stronger knock led Stancil to hear a child crying, and officers moved to get inside.
Police had reason to fear the girls were in danger. The temperature outside was around 93 degrees, the trailer had no air conditioning and investigators later measured the heat inside at 97 degrees.
Body camera video captured the push to get through the locked trailer. Officers tried one entrance, shifted to the rear and worked on the lock, with one using a cinder block before another came in with bolt cutters.
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Several officers wore body armor and carried rifles as Brown was ordered to keep her hands up and not move.
The girls were brought out first. Brown was then taken into custody.
“I immediately recognized the two children,” Stancil said. “Once the children were safely out of there, we were able to turn our attention to the suspect in this case and get her into custody without any problems.”
Brown’s arrest warrant described the trailer as “unclean and unsuitable.” Officers said it did not appear to have a restroom, and Norah’s diaper was full.
Atlanta police said the girls were returned to their mother in good health.
Their mother, Elicia Redding, had told police Brown was the last person seen with the girls around 6 p.m. Saturday.
Redding had hired Brown to babysit while she went to dinner that night. Brown was expected to bring Zola and Norah home by 10 p.m., but Redding said she could not reach her after returning from dinner and called police soon after.
The missing-child report came around 10:30 p.m. Sunday.
Redding told CBS News Atlanta that Brown entered her life through Facebook about a year before the alleged kidnapping.
“I first met her when she made a post about doing hair for expecting moms,” Redding said. “She reached out.”
Redding said she initially ignored the message, then later let Brown do her hair. The two kept talking and became friends.
Police said the women met face to face six or seven times.
The search for Zola and Norah led investigators to the Sylvan Road area by Monday afternoon after police used cellphone information, license plate reader data and tips from the community.
A warrant obtained by WSBTV placed Brown’s cellphone about five miles from where the girls had been seen Saturday evening.
Detectives stayed on the property for about five hours before an officer saw a woman between a vehicle and a trailer and believed she had gone inside.
Brown was booked into the Fulton County Jail on two kidnapping counts and two counts of first-degree cruelty to children.
The jail also listed warrants from Jefferson County, Alabama, and Paulding County, Georgia.
In Alabama, Brown was accused of taking Kamarion Taylor in 2021 after allegedly agreeing to help the newborn’s mother, Brionna Washington, care for him.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said Washington woke from a nap to find both Brown and Kamarion gone.
“When Kamarion’s mother awoke, the baby was nowhere to be found. Lakesha was also gone. The mother immediately contacted Lakesha and asked where Kamarion was. Lakesha told her that Kamarion was there in his playpen where she laid him before she left,” the sheriff’s office said.
Police eventually recovered Kamarion safely.
Brown pleaded not guilty in the Alabama case, but prosecutors said she missed her scheduled trial in May.
Alabama prosecutors are now seeking to extradite Brown so she can face trial on the 2021 kidnapping charge.
The Paulding County case began after deputies were asked to check on a baby Brown had allegedly claimed to have delivered.
Brown was accused last year of obstructing that investigation and lying to detectives.
FOX 5 reviewed court documents saying the father of the allegedly missing child had received a photo of the baby and said the infant “did not look alive.”
Deputies went through Brown’s home in August 2025 and found no infant. A package of newborn diapers had some missing, but Brown said they had been used for a different 6-month-old boy in the home.
The diapers were gone when deputies returned later that day.
Brown denied recently giving birth, but investigators obtained photos of her appearing pregnant and text messages in which family members discussed her giving birth to a girl.
A deputy also reported seeing two burn barrels in the yard. One had “a lot of maggots” around the top of burned material.
Paulding County Sheriff Ashley Henson said Wednesday that investigators ultimately found Brown had not been pregnant and had allegedly used photographs to make the man believe she had given birth.
Brown was charged with obstruction after investigators said she lied to detectives.
“It’s astonishing that someone would even do that to try and extort money from people by saying, ‘Hey, I’m pregnant,’ and showing images and things that would lead an individual to believe that she was, in fact, pregnant,” Henson said.
Deputies had not caught up with Brown after the Paulding County warrant was issued.
“Obviously, we’ve not been able to catch up with her since then,” Henson said. “Thankfully, APD was able to rescue those children.”
