Summerville baby returned to home after Amber alert

Andy Paras
The Post and Courier

Summerville Police Cpl. Sherry Williams returns 11-month-old Mckenia Braelyn Wright to her mother, Sierra Wright, on Sunday June 22, 2008. McKenia was the focus of a statewide Amber Alert Sunday after police say a 13-year-old cousin took her and Sierra Wright's car to North Charleston.

SUMMERVILLE — SUMMERVILLE — Eleven-month-old McKenia Wright was returned to her tearful, relieved mother Sunday, more than 12 hours after a 13-year-old cousin allegedly abducted the child and drove her to North Charleston in a family vehicle.

Sierra Wright embraced her daughter in the rain for a moment after Summerville Police Cpl. Sherry Williams handed her the baby in front of Wright’s uncle’s Mendenhall Street home. Aside from being hungry, the child was fine, authorities said.

McKenia was the focus of a statewide Amber Alert for most of the day Sunday until police, using cell phone records, tracked down the cousin, the baby and the missing 2006 Ford Escape in North Charleston around 6 p.m., Summerville Police Capt. Jon Rogers said.

Rogers said police intended to charge the cousin with kidnapping. She was taken to the South Carolina Juvenile Detention Center to await a hearing before a judge.

Rogers said it was still early in the investigation and they did know why she took the baby or why she took her to North Charleston.

Wright, 22, said her best guess is her cousin wanted to sneak out of the home. The girl shared her room with the baby, and the only way to sneak out without waking the baby was to take the baby with her, she said.

“Everything yesterday (Saturday) was normal,” Wright said of her relationship with her cousin. “I’ve not had any problems with that child. She is a sweet girl, that’s why I’m kind of confused about why she’s done what she’s done.”

She was especially worried because the cousin did not know how to drive. “She doesn’t even know the driving laws,” she said.

For nine hours, Wright sat in her uncle’s home surrounded by about a dozen family members trying her best to remain composed. She and her family repeatedly called the cousin’s cell phone but she didn’t answer.

At the time of the incident, Wright and her daughter were staying at her uncle’s home and helping take care of her two cousins. Wright said the cousin was acting somewhat suspicious early Sunday morning before she went to sleep.

When a family member checked on the girl and the baby around 3 a.m. they were both in bed, she said.

Wright said when she woke up around 8:45 a.m. to go to church, she discovered her daughter, her cousin and her vehicle were missing.

“I just panicked,” she said. “I called police.”

Nine hours later, everything was back to normal. McKenia drank from a bottle while her mom happily wiped away tears.