Prosecutor: Accused Lynn Kidnapper Told Police He Wanted To Kill Child
LYNN (CBS) - A Lynn man charged with the attempted kidnapping of a one-year-old girl from a laundromat is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing next week.
It's a parent's worst nightmare as police say 24-year-old Precious Chigbue walked right into the Showcase Laundromat in Lynn and picked up a one-year-old girl sitting at a table. The details released in court were disturbing.
Prosecutor Katelyn Giliberti says Chigbue told police he wanted to kill the girl. "Asked how he would kill the baby he said he wanted to slit her throat. When asked why he said he just had that thought."
A surveillance photo allegedly shows Chigbue holding the child, the mother's arm reaching for her as she chased him outside the laundromat after being alerted by witnesses. She was able to retrieve her daughter.
The mother of the little girl is still scared and asked WBZ-TV not to show her face. "Yeah scary yeah," she told WBZ-TV's Katie Brace. "The guy took my baby. I don't know why."
The child is home and OK. "Yeah, good, she is in the house," she said.
Police say Chigbue walked away without saying anything and they later found him at a nearby Stop and Shop. The girl's father tells WBZ-TV Chigbue watched his wife as she went in to wash clothes. "He watched my wife get out of the car and he followed her," he says. "I don't know why the guy would do that."
Chigbue's family says he needs help not jail time, blaming new antipsychotic medication he's recently been taking. "In light of those medications he needs help," said his cousin Patrick Iloba. "There's no way he would come to that conclusion on his own to slit a baby's throat."
Chigbue came to Lynn from Nigeria to stay with family four months ago. Iloba says drug use in college had landed him in a psychiatric hospital for a year.
He's convinced Chigbue would not have hurt the girl. "Sometimes he goes off but never like this. This is not his character one bit," said Iloba.
Chigbue is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing November 2.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports
WBZ-TV's Beth Germano and Katie Brace contributed to this report.
