Woman Held in Child’s Abduction

A woman charged with kidnapping a child last year was arrested Wednesday for allegedly abducting another toddler, whom police recovered apparently unharmed in Santa Monica.

“I haven’t eaten, I haven’t slept in days,” Katrina Brown said after she was reunited with her daughter. “I’ve been up for four days.”

Rochelle Garrett, 29, acting as a baby-sitter for 2-year-old Shanyia Payton, agreed to keep her until Sunday afternoon, police said. She was supposed to return Shanyia to her mother at San Pedro and 6th streets, but did not show up.

“A citizen saw a woman and child matching the description given out on a television broadcast at a Santa Monica hotel and tipped us off,” LAPD Det. Paula Garcia said. “We made an arrest for kidnapping and took another man accompanying her in for questioning.

“The child was in good condition.”

In March 2001, Garrett was charged with kidnapping for taking a child from a homeless center in central Los Angeles. Four months later, she pleaded guilty to deprivation of custody, and the kidnapping charge was dropped as part of a plea bargain.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Tamara Hall asked the judge to approve the deal. Garrett entered a no-contest plea. Hall did not return calls Wednesday

Court records show that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anita H. Dymant placed Garrett on three years’ probation on condition that she not associate with any child without adult supervision.

She also was told to report to a mental health center within five days of her probation, records show.

She was later jailed, from July to September, for violating probation. She was accused of disrupting court proceedings in the San Gabriel Valley, and refusing to leave after police escorted her out of a courthouse. When Garrett admitted Sept. 26 that she had violated probation, Dymant released her on her own recognizance.

On Dec. 9, Dymant reinstated Garrett’s probation after she agreed to undergo psychiatric counseling, court records show.

Dymant declined to comment Wednesday. Garrett’s court-appointed lawyer didn’t return a call.