Mother furious as baby snatcher avoids prison

"Disgusted" and "betrayed" are the words used by Aaliah Wray after the woman who kidnapped her son Nyyear Frank was given a two-year suspended sentence on Thursday in the Home Circuit Court.

"I am disgusted by all the end result. I went through a lot of pain when my baby was snatched away from me. Justice was not served in my favour, and right now I am feeling betrayed by the system," she said.

Anneisha Ramsay pleaded guilty to stealing the then five-week old infant in 2019 after reportedly agreeing to adopt him for $500,000. In handing down the sentence, Justice Leighton Pusey said, while the court must balance the circumstances of both the mother and the defendant, and send a clear message that the offence is very serious, a non-custodial sentence was appropriate for the case.

Wray, who was seeing Ramsay for the second time since the incident, said she was close to tears when she walked into the courtroom on Thursday.

"When mi see har, mi did wah cry but mi never cry because mi don't want her to see mi weakness or nothing like that. Mi will never forgive or will I ever forget, but I don't feel revengeful for anything, because I am not going to be separated from my child again. I am just leaving everything to God," Wray said.

Nyyear was snatched along Rousseau Road in St Andrew on October 13, 2019. He was found in January 2020 at a house on Finch Crescent, a community off Waltham Park Road in St Andrew. Wray said she was walking along Rousseau Road with her son when a car drove up and she was dragged inside. The baby was snatched from her by a male inside the car who then kicked her outside. The judge stated that he took into consideration that there was no evidence that Ramsay was directly involved in the theft of the baby. He also noted that she had lost a child and was in a 'dark place' at the time. Justice Pusey expressed hope that the suspended sentence, coupled with supervision, would offer Ramsay a chance at rehabilitation.

"There is nothing we can do that will undo what happened, but what we can try to do is craft a sentence that allows a young woman the opportunity to become a better person," he added.

But Wray was not moved. She admitted that after being reunited with Nyyear, she initially had difficulties.

"I cried several nights, lost sleep, a loss of appetite, and even lost weight," she shared in her victim impact statement. "Even though he is with me now, I am still traumatised because I am afraid to take him on the road, thinking that the same thing will happen again."

"At times when I am walking on the road and I see other mothers with their baby and on their phone, I walk up to them and tell them to be careful on the road," she recounted.

Now five years old, Wray said her son is thriving and doing well academically. She said she has not discussed the matter with him and said she is waiting until it is suitable.

"He has no clue what happened and I still wonder when will be the right time to tell him. I know I will have to one day, as someone else might. He is very brilliant and is growing really well," said Wray, who is now a mother of two.