NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — A woman accused of abducting a 3-month-old boy while babysitting him in a Virginia home confessed to police that she made a fake Facebook profile to set up the job, according to court records.
Tykirah Lashae Reid was arrested at her home in North Chesterfield, Virginia, around 6:45 p.m. Thursday in connection with the abduction of 3-month-old Jiraiya Cherry. The boy’s family reported him missing around 10:20 a.m. Thursday, and an Amber Alert was issued just before 5 p.m.
Jiraiya’s uncle, who is not being named, was at the family home when the infant was abducted.
He told police he was babysitting the infant and his 4-year-old niece when a woman hired by Jiraiya’s parents came to the house to assist him. The woman was later identified as Reid, but when Jiraiya was abducted, the family knew her as “Taliyah Lipsey,” court records show.
Her fake name was based on a Facebook profile she used to communicate with Jiraiya’s parents about the babysitting job, according to court records.
On the day of the abduction, Jiraiya’s uncle went into a back bedroom with his niece, leaving Reid and the infant alone in the living room.
Jiraiya’s mother called the uncle at 10:12 a.m. and said she couldn’t reach the babysitter through Facebook messenger, which was the only method they had used to communicate. She asked the uncle to check on the infant and the new babysitter, but when he went into the living room, he found them gone and the front door partially open, according to court records.
Jiraiya’s grandparents recounted the same timeline of events to WAVY the day after the abduction.
Jiraiya’s uncle reported the infant missing to the Newport News Police Department. The infant’s mother provided police with a picture from Reid’s Facebook page and gave them the name “Taliyah Lipsey.” Police identified the woman in the picture from the Facebook page as a person who lived in Suffolk.
WAVY is not naming that person because she has been cleared by police of any involvement in the abduction.
Detectives went to Suffolk to question the woman whose picture was being used on the fake Facebook page and searched her home. They did not find Jiraiya on her property. The woman told police she believed she’d been “scammed” and that another person used her picture to set up a fake Facebook account, court records state.
Police investigated several online accounts attached to the user name “Taliyah Lipsey.” They successfully identified Reid as the owner of the accounts. They went to her home, where they found Jiraiya.
Investigators also determined that Reid stole her neighbor’s license plates and put them on her own car on the day of the abduction. She used them to transport Jiraiya from Newport News to North Chesterfield, according to court records.
Chesterfield Police Department officers arrested Reid, who confessed to the abduction as well as to creating the fake Facebook profile and stealing her neighbor’s license plates, court records show.
She is charged with abduction, child neglect, obstruction of justice, petit larceny, removing a serial number from a vehicle and larceny of a license plate.
