MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) - A man and his mother have been charged with kidnapping his former girlfriend and their baby and holding them captive for five days, stabbing and beating her before she escaped, police said Tuesday.
The 20-year-old ex-girlfriend was lured to a home by a text message from Yolanda Gilreath, who's the baby boy's grandmother, saying she wanted to see him, Nassau County police Inspector Kenneth Lack said. When the woman arrived, Malachi Blaylock, who's the boy's father and Gilreath's son, grabbed the boy and forced the woman into a bedroom, authorities said.
"It was a horrible experience. She was beaten repeatedly throughout the five days," Lack said. "She was strangled. She had injuries all over her body, contusions, lacerations. She was beaten with an electrical cord. She was stabbed in the hand with scissors."
He said detectives suspect the 20-year-old Blaylock came up with the kidnapping plot because he wanted to see his 11-month-old son and was angry because he suspected his ex-girlfriend was in a relationship with another man.
When the ex-girlfriend showed up at the Rockville Centre home on July 20, Blaylock took their son and then forced her into a bedroom, authorities said. He held her there for several days, beat her, stabbed her and threatened her with a gun, Lack said.
He said the woman tried to escape three times but was unsuccessful. Eventually, the mother-son duo took the woman to a home in Hempstead, where she was able to call for help, police said. Another person in the house tried to call 911 on Wednesday, but Blaylock snatched the phone away, Lack said.
When the woman was left alone with the child and a tablet Friday night, she was able to call her mother, who went to the Hempstead home and picked her up, authorities said. Police said it was unclear who owned that home.
Lack said the woman wouldn't leave her baby alone during the encounter. The baby was not injured.
The woman went to a Brooklyn hospital Saturday and reported the kidnapping to police Sunday.
"The grandmother was an evil woman," Lack said. "She never tried to call the police. She was an accomplice."
Gilreath and Blaylock were arrested Monday on kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, assault and other charges. As the 51-year-old Gilreath was led out of police headquarters Tuesday, she told reporters: "She wasn't kidnapped."
It was unclear whether Gilreath and Blaylock, who were awaiting arraignment, had attorneys who could comment on the charges.
Police said Blaylock had been arrested before, but the cases were sealed.