Kingston, son of Tondra Osborne. Photo courtesy WSMV.com
Excerpts:
It is a story of friendship and betrayal. A local (GALLATIN, TN) mother said her baby was taken from her by a government worker who she said used her position to gain trust.
A judge (recently) ruled on that mother’s quest to get her baby back.
“She knew everything about my family being that she was my younger brother’s former case worker,” Osborne said. “She was around my family. She made a lot of home visits.”
Osborne said the two became even closer when Osborne learned she was pregnant.
“We ate lunch together, sometimes on her tab, sometimes on mine,” Osborne said. “The whole summer we had outings, pool, picnics. She even threw my baby shower.”
Osborne’s grandmother, Mary Thornton, who lives in Georgia, had doubts and concerns about their relationship.
“She was just doing too much, and she was trying to take control of things as far as Tondra’s decisions,” Thornton said. “At first I really didn’t think nothing of it. I thought this lady was her friend because she gave her a baby shower and then was buying all kinds of things. She was having the baby’s name put on diaper bags and burping clothes, having the baby’s name made. Then I was like this is a little much right here.”
In January, Osborne said things took a drastic change when she became sick with pregnancy complications. She was sick in the hospital again. Koch was taking care of Kingston for her. The two women sent text messages back and forth over several days.
Channel 4 obtained the text messages that show Koch telling Amy to “get rest” and that “Kingston is good.”
Throughout the conversation, Osborne shared details about her illness. She told Koch via text that doctors said she was dehydrated. Koch offered advice. Osborne then responded, “Missing Kingston,” and, “I want to see him tomorrow.” She praised Koch for her assistance.
But when it is time for Osborne to be released from the hospital, Osborne could not reach Koch. Koch wrote she was “on a conference call.” When Osborne finally got through, she learned everything has changed. She said at first, Koch only said, “I’m sorry.”
Court documents obtained by Channel 4 show that at the time of those text messages, while Osborne was in a hospital bed, Koch was heading to court to get emergency custody of Kingston.
“She went ahead and told me, you know, ‘I filed a petition and a judge signed it yesterday.'” Osborne recalled. “After that I was just numb. I was numb. I didn’t know what to think or what to do next.”
Osborne has not seen her little boy since.
Read the full story at WSMV.com
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