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‘Stolen’ baby Vernesha turns one
December 12, 2019
Vernesha Evans, the baby girl who was snatched from her mother at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay on January 4, is celebrating her first birthday today.
"I am full of joy to see my second daughter celebrate her first birthday. It's a good feeling having looked back over the last 12 months," her father Walton Evans said.
Vernesha was only three weeks old when she was snatched from her mother on the compound of the CRH, but was later found by the police two days later and reunited with her parents.
Evans told THE STAR that he could clearly remember the pain and stress it caused him and Vernesha's mom, Latoya Whyte, after learning that the baby had been stolen.
"I was worried that I would not see her again but thank God she was rescued, and now we are able to celebrate her first birthday. When she is older and can understand, we will tell her that she was stolen," Evans said.
But after the baby was found, the couple admitted they were having difficulties taking care of her and a Family Court judge in St James ordered the Child Protection and Family Services Agency to provide supervision and mentoring services for Vernesha.
Seeing the family's plight, three Jamaican-born sisters, Shekerr, Sheena and Simone Graham, stepped in to assist.
Since March, they have spent in excess of $1 million to renovate the family's home and to provide food and clothing for baby Vernesha and her parents.
According to Shekerr, a director of My Lullaby Babies, which provides care and protection for newborns in Florida, she signed a three-year agreement with the Family Court to personally care for her by providing a full-time caregiver so that she could remain with her parents.
The Graham sisters set up a GoFundMe account to help the family, and after realising that people were not responding fast enough, decided to pool their personal money for the cause.
With the help of donors via the GoFundMe account, the Grahams pooled their funds to rehabilitate the entire house by reinforcing the existing structure, putting in new windows, doors, and replacing furniture and appliances.
