A woman who did not have custody of her daughter but nevertheless kidnapped her from her Smyrna home before absconding to Mexico for two years has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Andrea Latrice McCord, 36, pleaded guilty earlier this month in Cobb County Superior Court to kidnapping a child under 14, District Attorney Flynn D. Broady announced Wednesday. After entering her guilty plea, McCord was sentenced to five years in prison without the possibility of parole, followed by 15 years on probation.
According to Broady, McCord abducted her daughter, then 4 years old, from the home of the girl’s father, James Williams, who had sole custody. The kidnapping took place during a supervised visit between McCord and her daughter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
During the visit, Williams went outside to work in the yard. He later realized that McCord and the child were no longer in the house and that they had left in his car, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
McCord eventually texted Williams to tell him his car was parked at a nearby grocery store with the keys underneath the seat.
Williams reported the abduction to Smyrna police immediately, but McCord had already disappeared with the girl, the Marshals Service said. When local police could not immediately locate the woman, they requested assistance from the Marshals Service and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
McCord then fled with her daughter and boyfriend, Custodio Guerra, to Mexico and kept the girl there for two years, Broady said. McCord and Guerra were eventually arrested in the town of Rioverde by Mexican authorities and handed over to the U.S. Williams was reunited with his daughter at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport a day after McCord’s arrest in July 2023.
At the time, Williams asked for privacy but said the girl was doing well and “words cannot express how happy I am to have my daughter back home.”
“This sentence reflects the seriousness of this crime and its lasting impact on the victim and her family,” Broady said “The safety and well-being of children must always be our top priority, and we are grateful for the tireless efforts of all those involved in bringing justice to this case.”
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