Abducted Tenn. baby’s mom will get kids back

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A mother will be reunited with her newborn son after losing him twice, first to a kidnapper and then to state custody after someone claimed a family member had tried to sell him.

Infant Yair Anthony Carillo is no longer in state custody and authorities do not believe parents Maria Gurrolla and Jose Carillo were involved in the abduction, the Department of Children’s Services and Nashville police said Tuesday.

Maria Gurrolla lost custody of Yair and his three siblings after the baby was found safe in Alabama. Two officials familiar with the case, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it, said the state took the children after someone claimed a family member had tried to sell the baby.

Thomas Miller, an attorney appointed to represent the children, told The Associated Press that police informed child welfare officials Tuesday they had “cleared the parents of any wrongdoing.”

“The kids will be returned as soon as logistically possible,” Miller said.

Gurrolla and Carillo could not immediately be located for comment.

The baby was found Friday, three days after he was abducted during a Sept. 29 knife attack on his mother in her home. Gurrolla was briefly reunited with the infant Saturday before Children’s Services put him and his siblings, ages 3, 9 and 11, in foster care for their safety. Department officials have declined to be more specific, citing privacy concerns for the family.

Tammy Renee Silas, 39, of Ardmore, Ala., was charged with kidnapping after authorities said they found the baby unharmed at her home about 80 miles south of Nashville.

Silas has not been charged in the attack on Gurrolla, who was stabbed several times and had a collapsed lung.

The police statement says “significant unanswered questions remain” in the case, including why Gurrolla and her infant were targeted.

Gurrolla told investigators that after she was stabbed, the attacker made a phone call and said in Spanish “The job is done” and the mother “was dying,” according to court documents.

Silas, who remained in custody Tuesday, waived an initial hearing and has not yet appeared in court. She has given a statement to investigators, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristin Helm, who declined to detail what she said.

Gurrolla told investigators she had never seen the woman who stabbed her. According to the arrest warrant, Gurrolla was targeted while she and a cousin, identified only as “JS,” were running errands and visiting a state food assistance office.

A car that police said Silas rented was seen on a surveillance video following Gurrolla before the attack, and the car rental information led police to her home.

Police have not released a motive, but Silas’ live-in boyfriend, Martin Rodriguez, told The Associated Press that she said she could not have children and wanted to adopt a child from a relative in Texas who was going to jail.

Associated Press Writer Kristin M. Hall contributed to this report.