Veronica Deramous Gets 25 Years for Trying to Cut Baby From The Womb Of Teka Adams.

First Posted: 12- 8-09 05:12 PM   |   Updated: 12- 8-09 05:28 PM

WASHINGTON -- A 29-year-old homeless woman has given birth to a baby girl after, police said, she was befriended by a Maryland woman who held her captive for several days and tried to cut the baby from her womb.

Officer Michelle Reedy, a spokeswoman for Prince George's County police, said 40-year-old Veronica Deramous of Suitland, Md., has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, false imprisonment and other related charges. Police said Deramous befriended Teka Adams at a southeast Washington homeless shelter and persuaded her to come to her apartment on Dec. 1 with a promise of baby clothes and other items for the unborn child.

Once there, Reedy said, Deramous bound the woman, who was in her third trimester. Days later, the woman escaped after Deramous tried to cut the unborn baby from her body, Reedy said.

"She bound the victim's hands and proceeded to try to cut the victim's abdomen to try to get the baby out," she said. "They believe she wanted the victim's baby."

Police said Deramous told some people she was pregnant even though she was not.

Police said Adams is expected to recover. Her daughter -- named Miracle Sky -- was delivered by emergency Cesarean section.

When police found Adams her "abdomen was cut and her intestines, stomach and placenta were exposed," according a police report. In the apartment, officers found bloody towels and a bowl with water and washcloths on a bedroom floor. They also found a box cutter and some razor blades, which they believe Deramous used to cut Adams, Reedy said.

According to the police report, Deramous had her 17-year-old son hold Adams' hands behind her back as she bound her with duct tape and then held her in a bedroom for several days. Her son has not been charged.

On Saturday, Deramous told Adams: "You're strong, you can handle what I'm going to do to you," the report said. She then turned up the volume of the TV in the bedroom, gagged Adams and began to cut her abdomen open. Adams moaned in pain and Deramous stopped, police said.

While Deramous slept early Sunday, Adams freed herself and fled the apartment. She went upstairs and knocked on doors before a neighbor called police. Deramous' son told police after his mother saw Adams outside, the two women began fighting and neighbors came out, the report said. Deramous and her son then left before police arrived.

Deramous was later arrested in Virginia's Arlington County. She remained in Virginia on Tuesday while she awaits being transported to Maryland to face the charges. There was no attorney listed for Deramous on online court records and prosecutors did not know of one.

A nun who answered the phone at the Queen of Peace, Missionaries of Charity shelter for pregnant women in southeast Washington told The Associated Press that the victim had stayed there for at least one month and left the shelter last week, but did not know Deramous.

The county Department of Social Services said it is accepting donations on behalf of the family, including clothing and money, after receiving several calls on Tuesday from those wanting to help.

Deramous was expected to appear in court on Wednesday.

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Please click the above post for video - what a lovely name for her baby. Miracle Sky!! :cheers:

She had her 17 yr old Son help her? What a miracle between the Mother getting away and the baby being fine after that ordeal.

There are a surprising number of these - here's a list:
Fetal and NewBorn Abductions
Anyone have more?

Thanks for the list, " A Voice."

I remember a case way back in the 80's in Albuquerque where this happened and I was mortified!! Had never heard of anything like this..unfortunately, it has become more common.

Wrapitup wrote:Thanks for the list, " A Voice."

I remember a case way back in the 80's in Albuquerque where this happened and I was mortified!! Had never heard of anything like this..unfortunately, it has become more common.

Probably this one: Darci Kayleen Pierce/Cindy Lynn Ray/July 1987/Albuquerque, N.M

Yes. IMO they are going up because hospitals have made it harder to steal babies - though some say it still isn't hard enough.

omg so sad!! :pale:

ugh, this is why when im pregnant i never go anywhere completely alone, especially at night.

Im not sure which case it is, but there was one lady who waited in a parking lot until she saw a woman she felt was pregnant enough, cut the baby out of her and left her to die. I actually think that the mom survived if i remember right, and they DID find the baby and reunite her with her mom....it was a relatively high profile case, i cant think of who it was though.

Irregardless, it makes my skin crawl. No pregnant woman should have to worry about being followed and when left alone being cut open and having their babies taken from them. Ugh. :pale:

Whats really sad...laci peterson is on that list..."did baby survive? No. Did mother survive? No."

They also have it listed as "UNKNOWN' though we all know who did it. :roll:

my bad, the story i was thinking of the baby was not cut from the mother, instead she followed her cause she had a NEWBORN baby and wanted to take her.

Teka Adams now cuddles her infant daughter, Miracle Sky. The little girl, swaddled in pink, sleeps peacefully. But after what they’ve already been through, it’s a wonder they’re alive today.

For more than four days, Adams was held hostage at a Prince George’s County, Md., apartment, where she said a woman tied her up, gagged her and used several knives to try to cut out her unborn baby girl.

“She hit me over the head about three times with a cast iron fireplace poker,” Adams said. “She told me what she was getting ready to do and I bust out crying.”

Adams described how the woman, Veronica Deramous, allegedly proceeded to cut her belly. “I was shaking and sweating because the pain was so excruciating that it got to a point where I just couldn’t feel it anymore.”

Adams’ ordeal started in early December when she was down on her luck and staying at a D.C. homeless shelter. She said Deramous lured her away with the promise of baby supplies and clothes. She ended up at the woman’s Suitland, Md., apartment where Adams said Deramous gave her lunch and then started beating her with a fireplace poker. Adams said she was left bloodied on the kitchen floor.

“She started cleaning the walls in her apartment, and she kept pacing the floor talking about how she couldn’t have the blood in her house because her son was coming home and she didn’t know how to explain it to her son,” Adams said. “And I am hearing all this, but I’m like just laying there because I don’t want her to kill me. Simple as that.”

Adams eventually escaped from the apartment and gave birth to her daughter by Cesarean section. Deramous was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, false imprisonment and other counts.

After being asked what Adams would say to her attacker today, she replied, “I would just ask her why she did it.”

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UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - A woman who survived an attempt to cut her unborn baby from her womb came face-to-face with her alleged attacker Tuesday in a Maryland courtroom.

Teka Adams attended a preliminary hearing, where a judge found probable cause to proceed with attempted murder and other charges against Veronica Deramous.

Authorities say Deramous, 40, met the 29-year-old expecting mother at a homeless shelter and lured her to her Suitland apartment by promising to give her baby clothes.

Police say Deramous held Adams hostage for several days, finally using knives and box cutters to try to cut the baby out Dec. 5. Adams escaped the next day and delivered her baby, naming her Miracle Sky.

Adams brought her baby — dressed in a pink outfit with matching mittens, booties and a hat — to the courtroom. The mother did not testify but made eye contact when Deramous was brought in and looked shaken after seeing her.

Afterward, Adams' father, Gregory Burnette, told reporters that seeing Deramous in the courtroom was difficult for the whole family.

"Teka's my youngest daughter, so I felt she was trying to take my baby," he said, holding back tears.

"It's unbelievable. I can't make sense of it all." Burnette said his daughter often can't sleep at night because she is still reliving the attack. "She's doing much better physically than emotionally," Burnette said.

The baby is doing very well, he said. She and her mother are living with him in Washington, he said. "She kept me up all night last night," he said. "Baby Miracle is truly a miracle."

The baby's father is also in the picture and was in court Tuesday with the family. Tuesday's hearing lasted less than half an hour.

Detective Kevron Gottlieb testified that Deramous was arrested in Arlington, Va. after she called police and told them her location.

He also testified that Deramous told police that she had paid Adams $5,000 for the baby, a claim that prosecutors declined to comment on.

Public defender Kim Robinson argued that the attempted first-degree murder charge would not hold up because there was no evidence Deramous intended to kill Adams.

Prince George's County District Judge Thurman H. Rhodes disagreed and found sufficient probable cause for all the charges. Prosecutors now have another 30 days until they must indict Deramous.

Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn Ivey said his office still has loose ends to wrap up in the investigation.

One question yet to be determined is whether prosecutors will bring charges against Deramous' son, Derek Scott Quinn, who told police he helped his mother bind Adams' hands.

Burnette thanked the public for the donations that have poured in for the baby through the county social services agency.

He said the baby has enough clothes for the first two years but Adams could still use monetary support to buy supplies.

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November 8, 2010

A Maryland woman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for trying to cut an unborn baby from another woman's womb.
Forty-year-old Veronica Deramous pleaded guilty to first-degree assault Friday, and entered a separate plea in which she acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to also convict her for false imprisonment.
Authorities have said that Deramous lured Teka Adams from a Wash., D.C. homeless shelter in December 2009 with the promise of baby clothes, then held her captive for days and used box cutters to cut into Adams' belly in an attempt to get the baby.  According to CBS Affiliate WTOP, Adams, who was in her third trimester at the time of the attack, managed to escape and run from the apartment with her placenta and intestines still exposed.
The mother survived and delivered her baby, naming her Miracle Sky.
When Deramous told the Prince George's County judge Friday that Adams had agreed to sell her the baby for $5,000, Adams lunged at Deramous and was then escorted from the courtroom.


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