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9:13 p.m. • 5-19-13

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  • Just In: The North Carolina Senate on Sunday released a preview of its $20.58 billion budget proposal for 2013-14, which would increase spending by 2.3 percent and offer the largest tax cut in state history. The spending plan closely follows the priorities set forth in Gov. Pat McCrory's budget proposal.

Published: 2009-05-31 23:05:00
Updated: 2009-06-01 19:24:52

Baby sitter accused of kidnapping appears in court


Renesha Shante Griner - mug shot 1 5/29/09 - babysitter accused of taking Raeford infant, Saniya
Renesha Shante Griner - mug shot 1 5/29/09 - babysitter accused of taking Raeford infant, Saniya
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A 17-year-old baby sitter accused of kidnapping a 9-month-old Raeford girl over a week ago made her first court appearance in North Carolina Monday.

Renesha Shante Griner was given a public defender, James Hedgpeth, to represent her. She has another hearing scheduled for June 17.

She arrived in Hoke County late Sunday after being extradited from Alabama. She faces first-degree kidnapping charges in the disappearance of Saniya Jaynelle Purcelle on May 23.

Griner and the baby were both found unharmed in Opp, Ala., Thursday, and Saniya was returned to her family Friday.

Investigators said that Griner had been lying to her 20-year-old ex-boyfriend for the past year, telling him she was pregnant and had had his baby. After babysitting Saniya once, she conceived of the idea to pass the baby off as her own, investigators said.

"I guess she was thinking about what she wanted. She didn't think about how it would affect everybody else," Saniya's grandmother Shelby Day said.

Investigators said that Griner had no intentions of returning the baby and gave Saniya a new name. The family of her ex-boyfriend fell in love with the baby, although some suspicions lingered, Saniya's family said.

"They were asking about when the baby was born, where she was born and all this information and said the girl kept giving them the runaround," Saniya's great-grandmother Donna Clark said.

Once investigators tracked down the babysitter and infant, the ex-boyfriend's family sent Saniya home along with things they bought for her – a quilt, clothes, a stuffed lion.

Investigators said Griner does not have a past criminal history.

  • Reporter: Stacy Davis
  • Photographer: John Cox
  • Web Editor: Anne Johnson

22 Comments


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Clearly there is a reason the boyfriend is no longer around. I am glad the baby is back home safe and sound. This girl needs serious help.

I am glad the baby was returned to her parent. I hope the kidnapper gets some mental health assistance. I am afraid it is not going to happen with things like they are now. I am glad the baby is ok. I do not know what the young woman (kidnapper) will do now.

Well, on the flip side of who leaves their kid w/a teenager for the weekend...whose parents would let a teenager keep a kid for the weekend?? Surely not mine. I used to babysit all the time when I was that age but you better believe that I would not have wanted to or been allowed to keep a child over nights like that.

The weekend the little girl was taken was the same weekend people head to the beach!

"happymom-ten years ago i didn't get 250 from the gov't to help me raise my child. i did it the old fashion way, i worked for it. i would have gladly accepted $250. onyourheels"

Nor have I, but I've also been around enough to know that it is sometimes necessary to have TEMPORARY help. As a taxpayer, I have absolutely no problem giving it.

What I do have a problem with is people assuming that just because someone is black, that person MUST be on some type of government assistance. There was no mention of any type of governmental assistance in the story whatsoever, but somehow this thread has ended up on the topic.

Why?

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