City woman, 19, charged in baby's abduction

A 19-year-old woman was charged Wednesday by Baltimore police with kidnapping a 4-month-old boy as part of a scheme to pressure her ex-boyfriend into believing he was the father, according to charging documents.

Police said that Marnae "Nay Nay" Lewis told the boy's mother Monday afternoon that she would take him on a trip to a local mall with a close friend of the mother's. Lewis then called the mother hours later and told her she'd return from the mall after it stopped raining, but she failed to return the baby to his West Baltimore home, police said.

The next day, the boy's mother, Amesha Pittman, reported her son missing to police, who began trying to track down the suspect. Aided by anonymous tips, police determined Lewis' identity and released photos of Lewis and of the missing baby, Michael Westbrook Jr.

Lewis had gone to stay with her foster mother, Robin "Bird" Coxson, 30, in East Baltimore. Coxson, who said in an interview that Lewis insisted that the child was her baby, didn't believe her foster daughter but let her stay with her in her rowhouse in the 2600 block of E. Oliver St.

But when Coxson saw on a TV news program Wednesday morning that Lewis was wanted by police and that Michael was missing, she immediately called police, who came to the house and arrested Lewis. The baby was returned uninjured to Pittman on Wednesday morning, according to the charging documents.

In an interview with detectives, Lewis admitted taking the child, police said. Lewis faces kidnapping charges and is being held without bail at the Baltimore City Detention Center, electronic court records show.