A judge has refused to shorten the jail term for a woman who kidnapped a baby and raised her as her own - despite pleas from the now grown-up victim to release her captor.
Gloria Williams had posed as a nurse in a bid to take Kamiyah Mobley from her birth mother at the UF Health Jacksonville Maternity Ward in 1998.
Williams raised Kamiyah as her own over the 20 years, but in 2018, she accepted a plea deal for taking the baby and was sentenced to 18 years behind bars.
But after the baby snatcher wrote to a judge pleading for her sentence to be halved, her calls were backed by the victim herself, who claimed she wanted her "mom" back.
In her letter to Duval County Circuit judge Marianne Aho, Williams wrote: “There are many things I have learned since coming to the Department of Corrections, but the overall lesson of my incarceration has been one of accountability” the Atlanta Black Star reports."
Williams continued: “I know and understand now that there is a ripple effect, that the consequences of my actions are never mine to suffer alone", the Independent reports.
She claimed she deserved to half the jail sentence because of her four years of good behaviour and personal development behind bars so far.
Judge Aho ruled that the motion was filed too late but also said that she “did not find a basis to undo the original sentencing judges’ decision”.
Williams took Ms Mobley from her mother just five hours after she was born and changed her name before raising her as her own daughter in South Carolina.
Williams previously told the court that she “had just suffered a devastating miscarriage and was exhibiting symptoms conducive to postpartum depression, as well as experiencing extreme mental and emotional disturbance”.
She added that she was “not in her right state of mind” when the kidnapping took place.
Williams was found in 2017, but it was reported that Ms Mobley already knew that she had been kidnapped a year and a half before Williams was arrested.
Backing up her captors letter, Ms Mobley addressed Judge Aho with her own correspondence pleading for Williams release.
She wrote: “I would like to make it very clear that she is my mother.
“She raised me and not only provided for my needs, but she loved me unconditionally.
“I understand none of this modifies the truth of the past, nor does it justify my mom’s actions in any way.
“However, at the end of the day, I love my mother and I wholeheartedly support her! I ask the court’s grace and mercy, as I need my mother home.”
Williams asked the judge if she could instead serve nine years in prison and nine on probation, noting that she has distanced herself from Ms Mobley out of respect for her biological family, The Star reported.
The victim's closeness to her kidnapper has caused issues in the relationship with her biological mother, Shanara Mobley, who once asked Ms Mobley to choose between them, according to The Star.
Social media posts show that they have been trying to rebuild their relationship, First Coast News reported.
“What I see happening is Kamiyah is bringing her biological family to South Carolina to introduce them and to spend time with my mother (her nana), her sisters, nieces and nephews,”
Williams said in her motion to change her sentence. “Everyone is coming together to give Kamiyah the best of both worlds and to bring her life into fulfilment.”
