LUBBOCK, Texas – A local NBC news reporter was arrested March 28 on suspicion of attempted aggravated kidnapping at two Amarillo hospitals.
According to Amarillo police, Cecelia Lynn Coy-Jones, 33, was dressed and acting similarly to Rayshaun Parson, 21, who was recently charged with federal kidnapping for allegedly taking a baby from Covenant Lakeside Hospital in Lubbock. Coy-Jones was reportedly not wearing any hospital identification, was carrying a large red bag and asking questions relating to child abduction security when Northwest Texas Hospital nurses became suspicious. Parson is accused of kidnapping a days-old baby girl in her purse while dressed in scrubs on March 10. About 20 minutes after being asked by police to leave, Coy-Jones raised suspicion at nearby Baptist St. Anthony’s Hospital for the same behavior where she was soon arrested.
Upon questioning at both hospitals, Coy-Jones identified herself as a reporter from Lubbock. Neither hospital staff nor the police were sure of who she really was at the time of arrest.
Representatives of NBC affiliate KCBD-TV in Lubbock stated that its reporter was conducting an undercover investigation to test hospital security measures after the previous baby kidnapping. A similar kidnapping occurred last year of another days-old baby born in another Lubbock hospital. Coy-Jones was arraigned on two charges of attempted aggravated kidnapping each of which carries a maximum prison term of up to 20 years and a $10,000 fine.
While the reporter claims to never have intentionally entered any private areas, surveillance video shows her within arm’s length of a nurse and a newborn baby and in areas police describe as clearly posted as restricted or controlled in access.
