National City
A mother accused of abducting her cocaine-addicted baby from a hospital after it was taken away from her was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on two counts of felony child-stealing.
Renita Smith, 25, who has 11 aliases, was bound over to Superior Court after a preliminary hearing before San Diego Municipal Judge Raymond Edwards.
He set bail at $50,000, and Smith remains in the County Jail at Las Colinas. Her arraignment was scheduled for Sept. 13.
The 2-week-old girl, Angelica Smith-Franklin, was taken July 15 from Paradise Valley Hospital in National City, where she was undergoing treatment for cocaine dependency developed in her mother’s womb.
Smith was arrested July 20 in Los Angeles, and the baby was found unharmed. The infant is now in a foster home.
Edwards dismissed a misdemeanor charge of child endangerment.
When the baby was taken, National City police said the infant was in danger of dying if she were not returned quickly to the hospital for treatment. Deputy Dist. Atty. Elliot Moses, however, said the child was not in much medical danger when taken and the infant was to have been released from the hospital the next day.
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