A woman, who was abducted days after she was born over two decades ago, pleaded with a judge to reduce the prison sentence of her kidnapper. According to Action News Jax, Kamiyah Mobley’s petition to the court comes after her convicted kidnapper, Gloria Williams, asked a judge to reduce her sentence. Her request was, however, declined.
In 2018, Williams was sentenced to 18 years in prison for kidnapping Mobley at a Florida hospital in 1998. Authorities said Williams disguised herself as a nurse and abducted Mobley only a few hours after her biological mother gave birth to her. She fled with the newborn to South Carolina where she raised the victim as her own daughter. Williams also changed her name to Alexis Manigo.
Upon receiving tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, officials eventually traced Mobley to a location in Walterboro, South Carolina in 2017. And though authorities determined Mobley’s date of birth matched that of the victim they were searching for, they established she had a different name and her documents had been fabricated. Through DNA, officials eventually confirmed Mobley’s real identity.
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Mobley and her biological parents have since reunited. But in a September 2021 letter, Mobley told the court she still regarded Williams as her mother. “I had a well-rounded life; and I am an independent, college educated, and deeply spiritual person, because of all my mom gave me. I am fully aware of how our lives came to be, what they are, and how my mom came to be my mom,” she wrote, per Action News Jax.
“I understand that none of this modifies the truth of the past, Nor does it justify my mom’s actions in any way,” Mobley added. “I ask for the court’s grace and mercy, as I need my mother home,” she added.
Williams attached Mobley’s letter when she filed her motion for the judge to look into reducing her sentence, court documents revealed. Williams, in her letter, asked the court to modify her sentence by allowing her to spend half of it in prison and the other half on felony probation, “or whatever relief this Court deems appropriate.”
Williams also claimed she was a reformed person, adding that she had undergone a faith and character program. She also said she had enrolled in a Master’s degree program in business administration.
“I have received no disciplinary reports whatsoever, and I have maintained an above satisfactory rating by both security and in my work assignment performance issued once a month by the Department of Corrections,” Williams wrote.
“I understand that this in no way mollifies my actions, however, I ask this Court for mercy and grace in considering modifying/reducing my sentence to a split sentence…”
But Williams’ request was rejected by a Duval County Circuit Court judge on Wednesday, PennLive reported.
“The court commends defendant for her efforts to rehabilitate herself and sympathizes with Ms. Mobley’s perspective,” Judge Jeb Branham wrote. “However, even if the motion was filed on time, the court would not find a basis to undo the original sentencing judge’s decision.”
