A Milwaukee man has been charged in connection to the abduction of 7-year-old Jamal White, who has since been found.
Corey Williams, 25, was charged on July 17 with being party to the crime of kidnapping with intent to transfer property, taking hostages and contributing to the delinquency of a child.
Jamal, known as Baby J, was abducted at gunpoint and found the following day, less than 24 hours after an Amber Alert was issued and Milwaukee police designated the child critically missing. On July 13, Milwaukee Police arrested Williams at an address connected to the kidnapping.
According to the criminal complaint, Jamal’s father told a Milwaukee Police Department officer that a white Jeep had drove up to the front of his Wyrick Park residence while his son rode his bike out front.
The parent, unnamed in the complaint, said he ran inside his residence when he saw Black men jump out of the Jeep carrying guns. The father said he saw the men grab Jamal “without consent,” put the child in the white Jeep and drive eastbound.
Officers reviewed a surveillance video that confirmed the account of the abduction.
Police officers located Jamal on July 12 in the upper unit of a Washington Park house, according to the complaint. They found the 7-year-old hiding in the attic of the duplex, with a methamphetamine pill in his pocket.
A detective interviewed Jamal on July 13. According the complaint, Jamal said a man grabbed him by the back of his shirt and took him when he was at his father’s house. The 7-year-old recalled being in a car with three unknown men, who drove him to the house where police ultimately recovered him.
Jamal said he heard one of the men talking to his mother while they were in the house. He told the detective that he heard his mother say she was going to come and pick him up, but she never came.
Jamal White
According to the complaint, Jamal teared up remembering his mother did not pick him up.
In a photo array, Jamal identified Williams as the man who drove the car in which he was taken.
In an interview with a different detective, Williams alleged that Jamal’s mother is a well-known drug dealer. Williams claimed he had borrowed the white jeep to assist in robbing Jamal’s mother at gunpoint at her home on July 11.
After waiting by her home that day and not encountering her, Williams and two companions drove to Jamal’s father’s residence instead. In the interview, Williams confirmed the account of the 7-year-old’s abduction.
After driving off with Jamal, the plan changed, Williams recounted, according to the court document.
His companions contacted Jamal’s mother later that night and demanded $100,000 and jewelry in exchange for her son. They offered to meet her at a nearby park.
Williams said Jamal’s mother never showed up to the meeting. Once the three abductors became aware of the Amber Alert, they discussed whether they should harm the child “to show they were serious,” but did not do so, the complaint states.
If Williams is convicted on the three charges — all felonies — he could face a combined maximum penalty exceeding 100 years in prison.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man charged in connection with abduction of Jamal White, 7