Gloria Williams’ plea for a reduced sentence in her kidnapping case has been denied by a judge.
While posing as a nurse, Williams took Mobley from University Medical Center (now UF Health Jacksonville) in July 1998. She befriended Kamiyah Mobley’s mother, Shanara Mobley, who was 15 at the time, and then kidnapped her baby eight hours after she was delivered.
The kidnapping launched a months-long quest for the baby and her kidnapper, which ended in failure until January 2017, when police captured Williams at her residence in Walterboro, South Carolina.
Notably, Kamiyah Mobley was lobbying the judge on Williams’ behalf, who had raised her in South Carolina under a false identity.
The motion was “untimely filed,” according to the order. It continued, by saying:
“Notwithstanding the untimely filing of the Motion, the Court reviewed the Motion and supporting materials in full. The Court commends Defendant for her efforts to rehabilitate herself and sympathizes with Ms. Mobley’s perspective. However, even if the Motion was filed on time, the Court would not find a basis to undo the original sentencing judge’s decision.”
Williams stated that she has been a model prisoner and that she would “ask this court for mercy” by reducing her prison term from 18 years to 9 years, with 9 years of probation.
“I ask for the court’s grace and mercy, as I need my mother here.” Mobley wrote.
Both women admitted in their letters that there was no justification for the abduction.
