CROCKETT, Texas – A Texas woman is accused of attempting to buy another woman’s child while they were in a self-checkout line at Walmart, authorities said.
Rebecca Lanette Taylor, 49, of Crockett, was arrested Tuesday and charged with the sale or purchase of a child, a third-degree felony, The Messenger of Marshall reported. She was booked into the Houston County Jail and was released Thursday after posting $50,000 bail, according to KPRC-TV.
An affidavit of probable cause filed by Crockett Police Department Lt. Ahleea Price stated that the mother of the child was approached in the self-checkout line of the Walmart in Crockett on Jan. 13 by Taylor, who wanted to purchase her son, according to KETK-TV.
The woman said Taylor commented about the youngest of her two children, who were in the shopping cart. According to the woman, Taylor then offered to buy the younger child for $250,000, according to KPRC.
When the mother refused, Taylor allegedly increased the offer to $500,000 and threatened to take the child, the television station reported.
“Once in the parking lot,” the police report stated, “Taylor began screaming at (the mother), saying if she wouldn’t take $250,000 for him, then she would give her $500,000 because she wanted him and she was going to take him.”
According to Price, the mother locked her children in her vehicle and waited for Taylor to leave, KETK reported.
The officer later went to Taylor’s residence to ask her questions about the incident, the television station reported.
“She told me that she doesn’t like thieves, then she stated I could speak with her attorney and to get off her ‘precipice,’” Price wrote in the affidavit. “She slammed the door shut.”
Price later returned with a warrant and arrested Taylor, KETK reported.
If convicted, Taylor could face a prison term between two and 10 years and a fine not to exceed $10,000, The Messenger reported.
