Woman Receives Sentence For Attempted Kidnapping Of Baby

YONKERS, NY — A Yonkers woman will be going to jail for taking a toddler from its mother at a hospital last year. Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. said Laysha Machado, 29, of Yonkers, was sentenced to one to three years in state prison.

Machado pleaded guilty in December to one count of first-degree unlawful imprisonment, a felony. She appeared in court via video conference Thursday for sentencing.

Prosecutors said Machado entered the emergency room of St. Joseph's Hospital in Yonkers Feb. 15, 2019, where she took a stroller with another person's child inside and left the building.

A hospital security guard chased her outside of the hospital and held her until Yonkers police arrived. She was arrested at the scene.

The 2-year-old was returned immediately to its mother. Authorities said, while the child was exposed to a risk of serious physical injury, the toddler was not injured.

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