Andrea Curry-Demus Murder of 18 yo Kia Johnson - TBD
Judge: Pennsylvania Woman Accused of Baby Snatching Competent Thursday, July 24, 2008 PITTSBURGH — The suspect accused of cutting an infant from a woman's womb was found mentally competent by a judge Thursday to assist in her defense, despite a psychiatrist's testimony that she is a paranoid schizophrenic. Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning disagreed with the psychiatrist who evaluated Andrea Curry-Demus, 38, of Wilkinsburg. "At this point, I'm satisfied that she appears competent," Manning said after listening to Dr. Christine Martone and defense attorney Angela Carsia. Manning asked several basic questions of Curry-Demus, including whether she understood the charges against her. Click here for photos from the investigation. "Homicide," replied Curry-Demus, who appeared for the hearing via videolink between the courthouse and county jail. Curry-Demus is charged with homicide, kidnapping and related offenses in the death of Kia Johnson, 18, of McKeesport, who authorities said was 36 weeks pregnant. Curry-Demus then tried to pass off Johnson's newborn son as her own, authorities said. Carsia said she was disappointed with Manning's finding and was considering her options. A preliminary hearing was still scheduled for Friday. "I don't think she's capable of effectively assisting with her defense," Carsia told Manning. Carsia said she had difficulty communicating with Curry-Demus when she met with her in jail for about 25 minutes on Tuesday. Carsia agreed with Martone's diagnosis that Curry-Demus was incompetent to stand trial. Martone testified that Curry-Demus was a paranoid schizophrenic who had been hospitalized many times. Curry-Demus was unable to give a coherent account of what she was charged with, is a danger to herself, and had poor insight and judgment, Martone said. Curry-Demus denied having auditory hallucinations, Martone said, but also "appeared to be responding to internal stimuli." "Her judgment is psychologically impaired," Martone said. Previously, Curry-Demus was diagnosed with major depression and a mixed personality disorder following two criminal cases. In May 1990, several months after Curry-Demus said she had a miscarriage, she stabbed a woman in an apparent plot to steal her newborn, according to court records. The next day, she kidnapped a baby from a hospital, according to the documents. Court records from those cases described her as obsessed with getting an infant and noted that she had auditory hallucinations of babies crying. She was twice briefly committed to a state mental hospital while the cases played out in court. Curry-Demus pleaded guilty in January 1991 to kidnapping, concealment of the whereabouts of child and related offenses and was sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison. She also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was placed on probation for ten years. She was released in August 1998. Click here for more from MyFOXPhilly.com. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,390601,00.html

Wilkinsburg woman to stand trial in slaying of teen, kidnapping of fetus A Wilkinsburg woman was held for court today on charges she kidnapped a pregnant woman, suffocated her and cut the fetus from her womb. The sister of Andrea Curry-Demus, 39, testified at a preliminary hearing before District Judge Scott Schricker that Curry-Demus called her early on July 16 and said she'd just given birth inside her Ella Street apartment. Brooke Curry called 911 and paramedics took Curry-Demus to West Penn Hospital, Bloomfield, where she refused to let doctors examine her. Curry-Demus' family thought she was pregnant with a baby boy and due July 6, Curry said. Curry-Demus called her sister from the hospital and asked her to clean up blood in her apartment bathroom and tidy the nursery for the baby boy she had named Rayshawn. Doctors later determined Curry-Demus could not have given birth and called police. The baby was unharmed. Curry-Demus called her sister again the next day and said she was being arrested and police wanted Curry to take them to Curry-Demus' apartment. Curry-Demus asked her sister to show police her own apartment, which is across the hall, instead. "I did what I was told," Curry testified. The next day, detectives found the body of Kia Johnson, 18, of McKeesport just behind the headboard of Curry-Demus' bed. Her hands and feet were bound with duct tape, and a wad of plastic wrap was stuffed in her mouth. She was eviscerated. Investigators determined Johnson met Curry-Demus at the Allegheny County Jail on July 16. Curry-Demus was visiting her husband, and Johnson was visiting her boyfriend. Surveillance tapes at the jail show the two women talking and Curry-Demus gesturing for Johnson to follow her outside, detectives testified. "Obviously, they struck up some kind of friendship, and Kia Johnson was lured back to that apartment where her baby was harvested," said Assistant District Attorney Mark Tranquilli. Curry-Demus remains in the county jail. She is facing five charges, including homicide, kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy. Johnson's family says the baby, who has been named Terrell Kian Barnes, is with relatives. The baby's father, Terrell Barnes, remains in jail. Jill King Greenwood can be reached at jgreenwood@tribweb.com or 412-321-2160. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_584368.html