Cops: Body at home of woman who claimed baby buy
WILKINSBURG, Pa. (AP) - July 18, 2008 The body was found in the home of 38-year-old Andrea
Curry-Demus, police said. Authorities would not say whether it was
male or female.
Wilkinsburg Police Chief Ophelia Coleman said the body was found
lying face down. She said she didn't know how long it had been
there. Investigators said police checked on Curry-Demus' apartment
after reporters called authorities about a foul odor coming from
inside.
Police visited the building Thursday night but did not go into
that apartment, Coleman said. Instead, a relative of Curry-Demus
led them to another apartment, she said.
Earlier Friday, police said they were concerned that the
infant's real mother - described as a thin, black female in her 20s
or 30s named Tina - might be in danger, or need medical attention.
The description was provided by Curry-Demus but authorities
aren't sure how reliable it is because she "has a history of
emotional problems," Coleman said earlier Friday.
Curry-Demus pleaded guilty in 1991 to aggravated assault after
stabbing a Wilkinsburg woman in an alleged plot to steal the
woman's infant. Curry-Demus, then known as Andrea Curry, was
sentenced to 10 years' probation.
Allegheny County homicide detectives have taken over the
investigation. Assistant Superintendent James Morton said police
were waiting for a search warrant before going into the apartment
Friday night.
"There might be evidence there we need to use in court, so it's
better to use a search warrant," Morton said.
The mystery started when Curry-Demus showed up at West Penn
Hospital in Pittsburgh on Thursday with a newborn baby that still
had its umbilical cord attached, police said. Tests later proved
she was not the mother - despite her claims to the contrary, police
said.
"I didn't do nothing," Curry-Demus told reporters as she was
put into a police car Thursday.
Curry-Demus was initially charged Friday with one count of child
endangerment. She was later charged with dealing in infant
children, a misdemeanor, according to court records. She has been
jailed until she posts $10,000 bond and undergoes a psychiatric
exam.
Court records did not indicate she had obtained an attorney. A
preliminary hearing was scheduled for Thursday.
Curry-Demus told police she miscarried in June and didn't want
to upset her mother by telling her she had lost the baby.
Curry-Demus said she befriended a pregnant woman and discussed
buying her child when it was born, according to the criminal
complaint.
Curry-Demus told police she paid a woman named Tina $1,000 for
the baby, but authorities have said they don't know how she got the
baby.