‘I need my mother home’: Woman asks court to reduce sentence of woman who kidnapped her

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WCSC) - A woman whom investigators say was stolen from a Florida hospital and raised by a woman in Colleton County asked a judge to reduce her kidnapper’s prison sentence.

Gloria Williams was sentenced to 18 years for the kidnapping of Kamiyah Mobley.

Court documents state Williams asked a judge to reduce her prison sentence and included a handwritten letter from Mobley.

The letter, addressed “to whom it may concern,” identifies the writer as Mobley.

“I am writing this letter in support of my mother, Gloria Williams,” the letter states. “I would like to make it very clear that she is my mother. She raised me, and not only provided for my needs, but she loved me unconditionally.”

Mobley’s letter states she had “a well-rounded life” and is “an independent, college-educated and deeply spiritual person,” qualities she attributes to what Williams provided for her.

“I am fully aware of how our lives came to be, what they are and how my mom came to be my mom,” Mobley wrote. “I have met my birth parents and am grateful to have a second family in my life.”

Mobley said she understands that second family, which includes siblings she never before knew, does not change the truth of the past or justify Williams’ actions.

“However, at the end of the day, I love my mother and I wholeheartedly support her! I ask for the court’s grace and mercy, as I need my mother home,” she wrote.

Mobley’s letter was included in a petition by Williams to the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court in Duval County, Florida, which seeks a reduction of her sentence from 18 years to nine years in the Florida Department of Corrections followed by nine years on felony probation.

“I understand that I was sentenced to a prison term of 18 years, however, I have been a model inmate, which is evidenced by my institutional record,” Williams wrote. “I have received no disciplinary reports whatsoever, and I have maintained an above satisfactory rating by both security and in my work assignment performance issued once a month by the Department of Corrections.”

She states she has completed the Horizon Faith and Character Program at the Lowell Correctional Institution-Annex and is currently participating in a voluntary faith and character-based program at Hernando Correctional Institution.

“I have attended and participated in numerous self-help and betterment classes,” she wrote. “I have completed all levels of the overall program, and my goal is to now become [a] certified peer facilitator so that I may help others who are just coming into the facility and need positive direction.”

She stated she is also actively pursuing a Master’s degree in business administration with Adams State University in Colorado.

Williams acknowledges that she has tried to “keep a little distance” from Mobley for the sake of her relationship with her biological family.

“Everyone is coming together to give Kamiyah the best of both worlds and to bring her life into fulfillment,” Williams wrote. “I believe the Lord is moving in her and bringing everyone together to be the family she wants, needs and deserves.”

Williams was arrested in January 2017 at her Walterboro home after investigators confirmed through DNA that the daughter Williams passed off as her own was actually Mobley.

Investigators in Florida determined Williams entered a Jacksonville hospital in a nurse’s uniform on July 10, 1998 and kidnapped Mobley. For the next 18 years, they say, Williams raised Mobley under the name of Alexis Manigo.

She entered a guilty plea on charges of kidnapping and interference with child custody in February of 2018 as part of a plea deal.

It is not yet clear whether the judge will rule on the request or when that ruling will come.

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