Georgia babysitter kidnapped two girls but was rescued via body cam

Sign up for our US Editor's Picks newsletter to get all the biggest exclusive stories and save us as a Preferred Source on Google. Police body camera footage captured the harrowing moment two young girls were rescued from a babysitter who allegedly kidnapped them in Georgia. Lakesha Brown, 42, was wanted by the Atlanta Police Department after the mother of Zola Cooper, 4, and her 11-month-old baby sister, Norah, reported that they had last been seen with Brown around 6pm on Saturday.

The girls' mother, Elicia Redding, told police that it was the first time she had hired Brown to babysit the girls. Redding reported them missing around 10.30pm on Sunday after Brown had failed to return Zola and Norah at 10pm the previous day, as had been agreed. An Amber Alert was issued as police immediately began searching for the four-year-old and 11-month-old.

According to an arrest warrant obtained by WSBTV, Brown's cellphone pinged to a location about five miles away from where the girls were last seen. The Atlanta Police Department said that officers responding to the location heard a child crying from inside a trailer sitting in a parking lot under the blazing Georgia sun. At around 12.30pm on Monday, about 14 hours after the girls were reported missing and two days since they were last seen, Atlanta police busted into the trailer to rescue the girls.

Zola Cooper, 4, and her 11-month-old sister were rescued by officers with the Atlanta Police Department on Monday after they were allegedly kidnapped by their babysitter. Norah, the 11-month-old, was rescued alongside her sister from a sweltering trailer after their mother had reported them missing the prior evening. The girls' babysitter, Lakesha Brown, has been charged with two counts of kidnapping and two counts of first-degree cruelty to children.

Body camera footage shows an officer trying to break the lock on the exterior of the trailer with a cinder block before another officer approaches with bolt cutters. About half a dozen officers wearing body armor and armed with rifles can be seen throughout the footage as police broke into the trailer and aggressively ordered Brown not to move and to keep her hands up. Officers can be seen entering the trailer and passing the two young girls between them to safety before grabbing Brown and cuffing her.

Investigators described conditions inside the trailer as 'unclean and unsuitable' in Brown's arrest warrant and said temperatures inside reached a sweltering 97F. Zola and Norah were soon 'reunited with their mother in good health,' according to the Atlanta Police Department. Brown was booked into the Fulton County Jail on Monday and charged with two counts of kidnapping and two counts of first-degree cruelty to children, according to the jail's records.

The records also show that the alleged kidnapper has two other outstanding warrants in Paulding County, Georgia, and Jefferson County, Alabama. In the Alabama case, Brown was accused of kidnapping four-day-old newborn Kamarion Taylor in 2021. Body camera footage shows officers attempting to break into the trailer with a cinder block before using a bolt cutter to open it. Officers shouted at Brown to keep her hands up and not move before they entered the trailer to rescue the girls.

Norah is pictured getting passed between heavily armed officers to safety. Brown is also accused of kidnapping a newborn in Alabama in 2021. Brown had allegedly agreed to help the newborn's mother, Brionna Washington, care for the baby before she disappeared with the infant after Washington woke up from a nap.

The baby has been found safe and is now back with its mother, according to the Atlanta Police Department. Both girls were reunited in good health after officers passed Zola to safety. The alleged kidnapper pleaded not guilty earlier this year but vanished from her May court date, prosecutors say. Brown is currently held in the Fulton County Jail following a recent arrest.

This Paulding County case started with a welfare check last year. Brown was accused of lying to detectives and blocking their investigation into the missing infant she reportedly gave birth to. Court documents reviewed by FOX 5 show officers searched her home in August 2025 after the father received a photo of the baby and claimed the child did not look alive. Inside, they found only a package of diapers for a newborn with several missing. Brown said she used them for another six-month-old boy living in the house.

On a second visit later that day, those diapers were gone. Brown denied giving birth recently, yet investigator photos show her looking pregnant while text messages reveal family talking about delivering a girl. A sheriff's deputy also spotted two burn barrels in the yard, one filled with maggots around burned material. The police report does not explicitly link the barrels to the missing child nor confirm whether Brown gave birth.

The case began as suspicious activity until December 2025, when an arrest warrant was issued for Brown tied to that welfare check. It remains unclear what changed the classification or what specific charges drove the warrant. Jail records show she faces two other outstanding warrants in Jefferson County, Alabama and Paulding County, Georgia. She is pictured getting cuffed inside a trailer.

Alabama prosecutors are pushing for her extradition so she can face trial on a 2021 kidnapping charge. It remains to be seen if Paulding County officials will ask for her transfer as well. The facts are shifting fast, and the legal battle over her custody and freedom is just heating up.