Woman pleads guilty to grabbing infant from Duke hospital

Tanisha Weaver, 29, of 18 Shannon Road, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of abduction of children. She was sentenced to 12 to 15 months in prison, which was suspended to three years of intensive probation.

Duke University Hospital officials said a woman tried to take a newborn from her mother's room on April 19. Hospital staff recognized that the woman wasn't authorized to take the child, called police and detained her until investigators arrived, officials said.

Weaver initially indicated to investigators that she tried to steal the newborn for money or to settle a debt. Police later determined that money wasn't a motive for the crime.

Authorities said Weaver had also planned to abduct an infant from Maria Parham Medical Center in Henderson.

A woman matching her description was acting suspiciously in the hospital on April 17, officials said. The woman, who was dressed in surgical scrubs, passed herself off as a nursing student and was asking questions about the maternity ward, they said.

The woman was later seen leaving the hospital with two unidentified people.

Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens ordered Weaver to get mental health evaluations and not to contact the mother of the child or anyone in the mother's family.

Weaver also must register as a sex offender. Under state law, anyone convicted of abducting a child is required to register.

Last month, Weaver was sentenced to 60 days in jail for assault with a deadly weapon.

Louisburg police said she placed an online advertisement soliciting pregnant women for a calendar. When one woman tried to back out of participating in the calendar, Weaver pulled a knife on her, police said.