Carlesha Freeland-Gaither.Photo:Philadelphia Police Department/Facebook
Philadelphia Police Department/Facebook
In 2014, Carlesha Freeland-Gaither was walking home from a family gathering when she was violently abducted on the streets of Philadelphia — an attack which was caught on a security camera. Now a new Lifetime movie is shining light on her harrowing story.
At about 9:40 p.m. on the night of the attack, Freeland-Gaither, then a 22-year-old nursing aide, was in the Germantown neighborhood in Philadelphia when a man grabbed her and forced her into a vehicle,NBC Philadelphiareported.
Security footage of Carlesha Freeland-Gaither’s abduction.PhiladelphiaPolice/YouTube
PhiladelphiaPolice/YouTube
According to the NBC Philadelphia, the witness, identified as Dwayne Fletcher, saw the suspect display a large knife when he tried to stop the attack. He also saw Freeland-Gaither smash out the rear window of the vehicle as it sped away in the night. Fletcher called 911 to report the violent attack and spoke to NBC Philadelphia about the ordeal at the time.
“I just felt like when she was gone, it just felt like I lost her,” he toldthe outlet in 2014. A search began, and the victim’s mother, Keisha Gaither, spoke with news outlets in an attempt to help bring her daughter home safely.
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Barnes was found in his vehicle in a parking lot in Jessup, Md., with Freeland-Gaither, who was alive, the outlet reported. According to theUnited States Attorney’s Office, authorities learned that after Barnes abducted Freeland-Gaither, he bound her wrists and forced her into the trunk of his car before driving to Maryland.
Barnes pleaded guilty to kidnapping and was sentenced to 35 years in prison, the United States Attorney’s Office announced in 2016.
Delvin Barnes.Philadelphia Police Department
Philadelphia Police Department
Abducted Off the Street: The Carlesha Gaither StoryfeaturesKenya Mooreas Keisha, a mother who will stop at nothing to get her daughter back. Riele Downs plays Freeland-Gaither in the film.
Kenya Moore attends a special screening of Lifetime’s “Abducted Off The Street: The Carlesha Gaither Story” on February 1, 2024.Paras Griffin/Getty
Paras Griffin/Getty
At the time of Freeland-Gaither’s abduction, Barnes was wanted for an Oct. 1 alleged kidnapping of a 16-year-old girl in Virginia,WHYYandABC Newsreported in 2014. In that case, he was charged with attempted capital murder, abduction, forcible rape and malicious wounding using a chemical agent, ABC News reports. The unidentified victim was found alive less than two days later.
Barnes admitted theabduction of Freeland-Gaither was at randomand he did not know who she was at the time.
source: people.com
