Crime & Safety

State Takes Custody of Kidnapped Acworth Baby

A Friday hearing is set to determine if the Bartow County mother will regain custody of 8-month-old William Kaidyn Stover.

The Bartow County baby allegedly kidnapped by his mother's friend has been taken into state custody, Sheriff Clark Millsap tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Eight-month-old William Kaidyn Stover was in the backseat of his mom's Ford Taurus late Tuesday night when Samantha Nicole Barrett, 22, of Marietta, allegedly stole the car and abducted the child.

Acworth mom Kristen Howard likely won't be charged in connection with the alleged kidnapping, which authorities say ended with a high-speed chase and crash. Stover was not hurt.

A Friday hearing is set to determine if Howard will be given custody of the child, the AJC reports. The boy was released to Howard following Barrett's arrest on felony child cruelty, felony fleeing from police and other charges, in Lamar County.

Barrett faced a judge Thursday morning in Henry County, after insisting to investigators she was Stover's mother, reports 11Alive.

She was granted a $20,000 bond on charges related to the 20-mile chase, which include reckless conduct and driving on a suspended license, according to the Henry County Jail. And in Bartow County, kidnapping and car theft charges await Barrett, who is on probation in Cobb County in connection with a drug charge, according to the AJC

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