BY ANNIE HOLLER
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

MATEWAN, W.Va. — A Mingo County woman faces a felony charge after state police say she grabbed a young girl outside her home and claimed the child was her missing daughter.

West Virginia State Police arrested Brittany Lashay Akers, 29, of Red Jacket, on a charge of attempted abduction of a person following the May 8 incident near Springdale Drive in Matewan.

According to Mingo County Magistrate Court records, troopers responded after the child’s mother called 911 to report that a woman she did not know had tried to pull her daughter away as they prepared to get into a vehicle.

The mother told troopers she heard her daughter scream and saw Akers grab the child. The girl broke free, jumped into the vehicle and slammed the door, according to the complaint.

The mother reportedly confronted Akers and asked why she had touched the child. Akers allegedly responded by asking, “How long have you had her, that little girl?”

The mother replied that the child was her daughter and that she had given birth to her. Akers allegedly told the woman, “Well I’m just saying, she looks nothing like you,” before asking whether she had obtained the child when she was about 3 months old.

Akers allegedly then stated, “My kid’s missing,” before looking through the vehicle window at the girl and saying, “Don’t worry baby. Mommy is coming to get you.”

While interviewing witnesses, troopers said they learned Akers remained in the area and was behaving erratically. Residents reportedly told police they were alarmed because they did not know what she might do next.

After troopers detained Akers, she told investigators she had “seen a woman with her child that had been missing since she was the age of 3.” Akers allegedly stated that she had been searching for the child and knew the juvenile was her daughter.

She remained in the Southwestern Regional Jail Tuesday.