Two Women Identified in Baby’s Kidnapping

Police said Tuesday that they have identified two possible kidnappers in the case of an abducted South Los Angeles infant.

They also said investigators have independently confirmed details of the harrowing account given by the baby’s teenage mother, who said two women offered to buy her son, then drove off with him as she clung to the side of their SUV.

But it remained unclear Tuesday whether the mother, Dominique Calloway, 17, will regain custody of her son if he is found. Police said Calloway’s older child, age 2, has been placed in protective custody since the kidnapping was reported Monday, and declined to comment on whether the infant would be returned to her.

Police said they believe the two women who drove off with Calloway’s 6-week-old son, Devon, are Sylvia Nunn and Annette Bryant, both 43, and asked the public’s help in finding them.

Witnesses told police they saw Calloway hanging on to the SUV as it sped from her duplex in the 100 block of 42nd Street on Monday afternoon, said Lt. Paul Vernon of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Calloway “was dragged a short distance” before being pushed off the SUV by one of the occupants; she fell to the pavement, suffering minor injuries, Vernon said.

Calloway said she was first approached last week on the street by two women who offered to buy her infant for $6,000. She said she told them she would consider the offer, but didn’t intend to sell the child. She did, however, accept a ride home from them.

The women returned to Calloway’s duplex, displayed money and repeated the offer, investigators said.

When Calloway demurred, they asked to see the baby a last time. Calloway brought him out to the parked SUV, and they drove off with him, she said.

During the investigation, officers discovered excessively dirty and unsuitable living conditions in Calloway’s home, police said. They called county child protection officials, and Calloway’s older child was removed from the home and placed in protective custody.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services declined to comment on the case, citing client privacy.

On the narrow street where the infant was abducted, neighbors voiced sympathy.

Eric Jones, 48, who lives across the street from Calloway’s duplex, said he heard the young mother shouting Monday afternoon.

“I saw a car screeching out and she was screaming and crying,” Jones said. “I couldn’t see what the people in the car had, but they got out pretty quick.... It’s a shame.”

Nunn, who police said offered the money for Devon, has been identified as the suspect in the case. She was described as African American; 5 feet, 5 inches tall; and weighing 200 pounds. Police said she also goes by Sylvia Marie Wilson-Hardman.

Police said they want to question Bryant, calling her a “person of interest.” They said she was driving the SUV, and described her as African American and having a mole near her left eye and long fingernails. Police said she also goes by the name Annette Michelle Pinkard.

Police also said that they mistakenly publicized the photo of another woman named Annette Bryant on Tuesday and offered apologies after that woman came forward and they confirmed that she was not the Annette Bryant being sought.

Vernon said police cannot issue an Amber Alert on the kidnapping because they do not have a license number for the SUV. Anyone with information is asked to call (323) 846-6576.