Police found the 4-year-old and 11-month-old girls safe inside a locked trailer after investigators tracked their suspected babysitter.
ATLANTA — A 42-year-old woman accused of kidnapping two young sisters allegedly spent nearly a year gaining their mother’s trust after connecting with her through a Facebook group for expectant mothers, according to police, arrest warrants and the children’s mother.
Lakesha Brown faces two counts of kidnapping and two counts of first-degree cruelty to children after Atlanta police found 4-year-old Zola Cooper and her 11-month-old sister, Norah Cooper, inside a locked trailer Aug. 17. The girls were taken to a children’s hospital for evaluation and were reported to be in good health before being reunited with their family. Brown remained in the Fulton County jail without bond in the latest public reporting reviewed.
The girls’ mother, Elica Redding, said she first encountered Brown through a Facebook group for pregnant women about a year before the alleged abduction. Redding told Atlanta-area news organizations that Brown offered support and initially contacted her about providing services for expectant mothers. Police said the women later met in person several times and Brown gradually became someone Redding trusted around her children.
Redding allowed Brown to watch the girls on Aug. 15 while she went out, investigators said. According to arrest warrants reported by local news outlets, Brown told Redding that she planned to take the children to Walmart and another entertainment business before meeting their grandmother. Brown did not arrive at the agreed location, authorities said.
Redding repeatedly contacted Brown while trying to get her daughters back. The warrants allege Brown gave a series of excuses for the delay and eventually claimed she had been in an accident and that the children were with the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services. Police checked hospitals and child welfare records but found no information supporting those claims, according to WSB-TV. Brown then stopped answering Redding’s calls, investigators said.
Atlanta police said officers were initially dispatched to a home on James P. Brawley Drive after the children were reported missing. The department’s Special Victims Unit later determined that the case should be investigated as a kidnapping. Authorities issued a critical missing child alert as officers searched for Brown and the girls.
Investigators used cellphone information, license plate reader data and community tips to focus their search on the Gateway South Apartments area on Sylvan Road, police said. Detectives watched the property for hours before an officer heard what appeared to be a young child inside a trailer. Police said temperatures were in the 90s and the trailer did not have air conditioning, prompting concern for the children’s safety.
Body camera footage released by the Atlanta Police Department shows officers approaching the locked trailer and using bolt cutters to open a rear door. The two girls and Brown were found inside. Officers removed the children and arrested Brown without further incident. Police said the trailer had only a box fan for cooling and did not appear suitable for the children.
Brown waived her first court appearance after her arrest. Arrest warrants allege she later acknowledged that she should have returned the children when Redding asked for them but did not provide investigators with what the warrants described as a logical explanation for failing to do so. Authorities have not publicly announced a motive. The charges against Brown are allegations, and she is presumed innocent unless convicted.
The Atlanta investigation also brought renewed attention to an unresolved 2021 kidnapping case in Jefferson County, Alabama. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said Brown was charged with first-degree kidnapping after a 4-day-old boy disappeared from a Fairfield home where she had been helping the child’s family. Deputies arrested Brown, and the infant was later found safe at another residence. Her bond was set at $100,000 in that case.
WSB-TV reported that Brown pleaded not guilty in the Alabama case but later failed to appear for a scheduled trial, leading prosecutors to seek revocation of her bond and her return to Alabama. Atlanta investigators said she had an outstanding Alabama warrant when she was taken into custody. The Alabama allegation also has not resulted in a conviction in the information reviewed.
Brown is also wanted in Paulding County, Georgia, on a misdemeanor obstruction charge stemming from a separate 2025 investigation, Sheriff Ashley Henson told CBS Atlanta. Investigators there allege Brown falsely claimed to have been pregnant and misled detectives during an investigation involving photographs of a newborn. Henson said authorities expect Brown to face that charge after her other cases move through the courts.
As of Aug. 22, Brown remained in Fulton County custody without bond, and no motive for the alleged abduction had been publicly established. Atlanta police continued to treat her as the primary suspect while investigators examined whether anyone else assisted her. The two sisters remained safely reunited with their family.
Author note: Last updated August 22, 2026.