2-year-old girl found in another state after being taken from Columbia home, police say
A woman and her adult daughter were arrested on multiple charges after illegally taking a 2-year-old girl from a South Carolina home, the Columbia Police Department said.
The women were taken into custody following a traffic stop on Interstate 85 in Georgia, police said Saturday in a news release. They were taking the toddler to their home in Texas, according to the release.
The 2-year-old was found in good health and not physically harmed, police said. The same was not true of her grandparents, who were assaulted when the women broke into their home and took the toddler on Friday, according to the release.
Tiffany Alexander, 41, and Janiyah Williams, 23, each were charged with custodial interference, first-degree burglary and first-degree assault, police said.
Alexander and Williams forced their way inside a home in the 1800 block of Hatfield Street and assaulted two residents before removing the 2-year-old girl, according to police. That’s in the area between S.C. 277 and U.S. 1/Two Notch Road.
Alexander is the biological mother of the 2-year-old and does not have custody of her daughter, police said.
The victims are the grandparents of the child who were taking care of her, according to the release. The grandparents told officers that Alexander and Williams assaulted them with multiple items — including a baseball bat and pepper spray — to take the child, according to the release.
Police said both grandparents received medical treatment for their injuries, but further information on their conditions was not available. Police did not say whether how the grandparents were related to Alexander and Williams.
At about 6:30 p.m., officers responded to the Hatfield Street home where the grandparents told them about the assault and the removal of the child, and described the vehicle that Alexander and Williams were in when they left with the 2-year-old, police said.
Officers shared the information with South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents at the State Fusion Center, and they began preparations to issue an Amber Alert. There was no word if an alert was ever issued.
It was determined Alexander and Williams were fleeing the area with the child home to Texas, according to the release. With the assistance of Columbia-Richland 911 dispatchers and SLED, the exact location of Alexander and Williams was identified and communicated to out-of-state law enforcement, police said.
As a result, Alexander and Williams were located and stopped on I-85 by the Georgia State Patrol, according to the release.
Alexander and Williams were taken to a Georgia jail and are awaiting extradition to Columbia, police said.
The 2-year-old was temporarily in the care of the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services before being returned home to Columbia where she is “safe and sound,” police said.
