Suspect: Victim reneged on deal to give her baby

Eight-day-old Sophia Victoria Gonzalez Abarca was returned to her relatives in Wichita on Saturday.

“This is the most extreme end of the crime of infant abduction, where more usually a woman tries to steal a newborn baby from a hospital or from the new mother in her home or out in public”, said Cathy Nahirny, senior analyst on infant abduction for the Washington-based group.

The Texas woman who allegedly killed a friend and stole her baby in Kansas after faking a pregnancy is expected to face charges soon, prosecutors said.

Yesenia Sesmas, 34, is expected to be charged with murdering 27-year-old Laura Abarca in Wichita, Kansas, and taking off with her 6-day-old daughter Sophia on November 17, according to the Associated Press and local authorities. The girl was retrieved safely from Sesmas’ Dallas home Saturday during a pre-dawn raid and reunited with family.

According to cops, Yesenia Sesmas, 34, faked her pregnancy for months, and told people she was expecting. Officials are seeking to pursue the charges to extradite the woman back to Kansas. The extradition process could take up to 90 days.

Kansas police, who worked closely with a specialized FBI investigative unit devoted to tracking and recovering abducted kids, were able to quickly determine that Baby Sophia and her abductor, Texas woman Yesenia Sesmas, were headed to Dallas. She said she threatened Abarca-Nogueda with a gun when it discharged accidentally.

Records show Sesmas was then booked into jail on several charges, including kidnapping. Sesmas had previously told her that she wanted a daughter, but couldn’t get pregnant, she said. She said Sesmas told her they were being kidnapped for a $10,000 ransom.

She says a fight continued outside while her children were able to get into the family’s vehicle. The sheriff’s office found out that she had moved to Dallas and faxed to Dallas police a warrant for Sesmas’ arrest and requested their help in finding her.

Zettle says the justice system will have to play out in this case to see if Sesman could eventually be found guilty. “And they try not to get caught, so it makes it hard to find them”. A 37-year-old woman told police that Sesmas had battered her and her daughter, then kidnapped the woman, her daughter and another child. The final decision on charges will be announced Tuesday, the Associated Press reports.

The Texas woman was identified as 34-year-old Yesenia Sesmas. The suspect and victim knew each other, he said, without adding much else.

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