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Police: Teenager put newborn in purse in kidnap attempt

The newborn Ballard attempted to kidnap CBS/WGCL

(CBS) CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - Authorities say a teenage girl attempted to kidnap a newborn by putting the baby in her purse.

CBS Atlanta reports 19-year-old Naquelle Ballard, who was arrested after putting on scrubs and pretending to work at the hospital, attempted to kidnap a 2-day-old girl and play it off as her own child to cover up a recent miscarriage.

On Wednesday morning, Ballard went to Southern Regional Hospital and asked the mother of the newborn if she was ready for the baby to go back to the nursery, police said. Ballard then put her in her purse.

The hospital's infant alarm system went off and according to police, hospital personnel struggled for the purse and the baby before they were able to secure both. But Ballard fled the scene and was arrested a few miles away.

CBS affiliate WGCL reports that Jasmere Brown, the newborn's mother, saying, "I just had her and then all of a sudden she's gone. It's insane, selfish and I don't think that should be an option to take someone else's baby."

Ballard told authorities she had miscarried and had not yet told her boyfriend about it, according to a police report said. She said she planned to pass the kidnapped baby off as her own.

Ballard was charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment. A bond has yet to be set.

"I would like her to rot in jail because of all the pain she put me through and if she would have gotten away all the pain would have been through all of my life," Brown said.

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