LilMtnCbn
04-18-2004, 05:03 AM
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/sports/horse_racing/kentucky_de
rby/8454695.htm
Woman accused of taking baby to stand trial
By Jason Straziuso
The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA - A woman who allegedly helped start a house fire as a diversion
to kidnap a 10-day-old girl she raised as her own was ordered Friday to stand
trial for kidnapping, arson and criminal conspiracy.
Carolyn Correa, 42, of Willingboro, N.J., kidnapped Delimar Vera in December
1997 and raised her until March, authorities say, when the 6-year-old child was
reunited with her birth mother, Luzaida Cuevas.
Judge Joseph C. Bruno said that the circumstantial evidence to charge Vera was
"certainly
some of the strongest" he had seen.
By questioning Cuevas; Deli-
mar's birth father, Pedro Vera; and Correa's boyfriend from 1997, pro-
secutors showed inconsistencies in the stories Correa had told
concerning her own alleged pregnancy.
Testifying in Spanish, Cuevas said she met Correa for the first time on Dec.
14, 1997, the day before Delimar was believed to have been killed in a house
fire.
Cuevas said Correa told her she had a baby on Dec. 5, 1997, the same day Cuevas
had Delimar. But Andre Moore, Correa's boyfriend at the time, testified that
Correa told him she delivered their baby on Dec. 12. In addition, prosecutors
presented medical records showing Cuevas was not pregnant on Dec. 3, when she
had an ultrasound.
Cuevas testified that she had suspected for years that Correa had taken
Delimar. But she didn't see the girl until a birthday party in January 2003 --
earlier reports had the party taking place in January 2004 -- when she
recognized a physical similarity. She used the ruse that the girl had gum in
her hair to pull a couple strands for DNA evidence.
Asked why it took from January 2003 until early 2004 to go to authorities,
Cuevas said she was a single mother raising three children and didn't have
money for DNA testing. She eventually contacted state Rep. Angel Cruz for help.
Moore, meanwhile, testified that he first met the baby he thought was his and
Correa's on Dec. 15, 1997, close to the very hour that Cuevas' house in
Philadelphia caught fire. Moore testified that the baby was the girl now known
as Delimar Vera.
Moore also said he believed Correa really had been pregnant. Medical records
showed that Correa had a miscarriage around September 1996, despite having a
tubal ligation in 1990. No records showed she was pregnant in late 1997.
But Moore, who is black, said family members told him that Delimar did not look
like him. Both Cuevas and Vera, Delimar's biological parents, are Hispanic.
Cuevas testified that on the night of the fire, Correa -- who has a previous
arson conviction -- went upstairs to use the bathroom. Within 10 minutes after
Correa returned downstairs, Cuevas said she heard a "small explosion" on the
second floor. She ran upstairs and noticed a back window open, and Delimar was
no longer in her front bedroom, which was on fire, Cuevas said.
"I continued to search, but by that time, the smoke was so thick I went
downstairs," Cuevas said.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
rby/8454695.htm
Woman accused of taking baby to stand trial
By Jason Straziuso
The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA - A woman who allegedly helped start a house fire as a diversion
to kidnap a 10-day-old girl she raised as her own was ordered Friday to stand
trial for kidnapping, arson and criminal conspiracy.
Carolyn Correa, 42, of Willingboro, N.J., kidnapped Delimar Vera in December
1997 and raised her until March, authorities say, when the 6-year-old child was
reunited with her birth mother, Luzaida Cuevas.
Judge Joseph C. Bruno said that the circumstantial evidence to charge Vera was
"certainly
some of the strongest" he had seen.
By questioning Cuevas; Deli-
mar's birth father, Pedro Vera; and Correa's boyfriend from 1997, pro-
secutors showed inconsistencies in the stories Correa had told
concerning her own alleged pregnancy.
Testifying in Spanish, Cuevas said she met Correa for the first time on Dec.
14, 1997, the day before Delimar was believed to have been killed in a house
fire.
Cuevas said Correa told her she had a baby on Dec. 5, 1997, the same day Cuevas
had Delimar. But Andre Moore, Correa's boyfriend at the time, testified that
Correa told him she delivered their baby on Dec. 12. In addition, prosecutors
presented medical records showing Cuevas was not pregnant on Dec. 3, when she
had an ultrasound.
Cuevas testified that she had suspected for years that Correa had taken
Delimar. But she didn't see the girl until a birthday party in January 2003 --
earlier reports had the party taking place in January 2004 -- when she
recognized a physical similarity. She used the ruse that the girl had gum in
her hair to pull a couple strands for DNA evidence.
Asked why it took from January 2003 until early 2004 to go to authorities,
Cuevas said she was a single mother raising three children and didn't have
money for DNA testing. She eventually contacted state Rep. Angel Cruz for help.
Moore, meanwhile, testified that he first met the baby he thought was his and
Correa's on Dec. 15, 1997, close to the very hour that Cuevas' house in
Philadelphia caught fire. Moore testified that the baby was the girl now known
as Delimar Vera.
Moore also said he believed Correa really had been pregnant. Medical records
showed that Correa had a miscarriage around September 1996, despite having a
tubal ligation in 1990. No records showed she was pregnant in late 1997.
But Moore, who is black, said family members told him that Delimar did not look
like him. Both Cuevas and Vera, Delimar's biological parents, are Hispanic.
Cuevas testified that on the night of the fire, Correa -- who has a previous
arson conviction -- went upstairs to use the bathroom. Within 10 minutes after
Correa returned downstairs, Cuevas said she heard a "small explosion" on the
second floor. She ran upstairs and noticed a back window open, and Delimar was
no longer in her front bedroom, which was on fire, Cuevas said.
"I continued to search, but by that time, the smoke was so thick I went
downstairs," Cuevas said.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
