Crockett Woman Arrested on Charge of Trying to Buy Child
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – A woman arrested in early 2022 for attempting to purchase a child was arrested again Monday, May 22 after failing to appear to face the original charges.
As The Messenger reported at the time, Rebecca Lanette Taylor, from Crockett, was taken into custody on Jan. 18, 2022 and charged with the offense of the sale or purchase of a child, a third-degree felony.
An affidavit of probable cause filed by the Crockett Police Department (CPD) indicated they 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 CPD 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 back away and said she had been wanting to purchase a baby for a long time. The mom went on to inform CPD 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.
CPD officers reviewed the surveillance video from Walmart and reported in the affidavit the video appeared to confirm what the mom had told her. Officers 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,” CPD stated in the affidavit.
After speaking with Houston County District Attorney Donna Kaspar, a warrant was secured for Taylor’s arrest. She was charged with the sale or purchase of a child, a third-degree felony.
As of press time, Taylor is still in jail and bond has not yet been set.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
