Attempted Child Purchase Thwarted in Crockett
Mom – “No Amount of Money Would Do”
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – A strange scenario played out at the Walmart in Crockett last week as a 49-year-old woman attempted to purchase another woman’s child while waiting in line at the self-checkout.
Police records indicate Rebecca Lanette Taylor, from Crockett, was taken into custody on Jan. 18 and charged with the offense of the sale or purchase of a child, a third-degree felony.
An affidavit of probable cause filed by Lt. Ahleea Price with the Crockett Police Department indicated she was on patrol on Jan. 13 when she received a phone call from the mother of the child “… advising a white woman with blonde hair approached her in the Crockett Walmart, wanting to purchase her son.”
The mom explained to Lt. Price she was waiting to scan her items in the self-checkout, with her baby in a car seat and her one-year-old son sitting in the cart. She indicated a woman, later identified as Rebecca Taylor, approached her and “… began commenting on her son’s blonde hair and blue eyes. She asked how much she could purchase him for. (The mom) tried to laugh this comment off, thinking Taylor was joking. Taylor told her that she had $250,000 in the car and she would pay that much for him. (The mom) told her no amount of money would do.”
When Taylor continued to press the matter, the mom told her to back away from her son. Taylor, however, did not and said she had been wanting to purchase a baby for a long time. The mom went on to inform Lt. Price that Taylor was with another woman who she believed to be of Hispanic origin.
In yet another odd twist, the second woman asked the mom what her son’s name was, but she refused to provide her with the child’s name. However, Taylor and the other woman began to call the child by his name – with what the mom believed to be no prior knowledge of it.
After waiting on the two women to leave the store, the mom left with her children and began to walk towards her car.
“Once in the parking lot,” the police report went on to state, “Taylor began screaming at (the mom), saying if she wouldn’t take $250,000 for him, then she would give her $500,000 because she wanted him and she was going to take him.”
The mom locked both of her children in the car while Taylor stood behind a black SUV, parked next to the mom’s vehicle. Taylor continued to repeat she wanted the child and would pay $500,000 for him. Eventually, she entered the black SUV and left the scene.
Price reviewed the surveillance video from Walmart and reported in the affidavit that the video appeared to confirm what the mom had told her. She then went to Taylor’s residence to ask her about the incident.
“She told me that she doesn’t like thieves, then she stated I could speak with her attorney and to get off her ‘precipice.’ She slammed the door shut,” Price stated in the affidavit.
After speaking with Houston County District Attorney Donna Kaspar, Price secured a warrant for Taylor’s arrest. She was taken into custody on Jan. 18 and charged with the sale or purchase of a child, a third-degree felony.
According to Section 12.34 of the Texas Penal Code, “An individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the third degree shall be punished by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than 10 years or less than two years. In addition to imprisonment, an individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the third degree may be punished by a fine not to exceed $10,000.”
Taylor remains at the Houston County Jail and is being held on a $50,000 bond.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
