A 2-year-old girl’s mother and her friend were charged today with abducting the toddler at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Garden Grove this week.
Ileane Unique Shelton, 21, the girl’s mother, was charged with kidnapping a child and child stealing by a non-custodial person, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of battery and child abuse and endangerment.
Her companion, 21-year-old Kweli Israel Murphy, was charged with kidnapping a child, child stealing by a non-custodial person and illegal use of tear gas, all felonies, as well as two misdemeanor counts of battery and a count of child abuse and endangerment.
Authorities said the girl was taken about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday during a visitation supervised by a social worker.
Shelton was scheduled to meet with the social worker and her daughter at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant at 13101 Harbor Blvd. about 11 a.m., Garden Grove police Lt. Nick Jensen said.
But just as the meeting was about to happen, a male suspect approached and pepper-sprayed the social worker, Jensen said. Shelton and the male suspect then took the girl and fled in a Toyota Rav4 driven by another suspect, he said.