The Texas woman arrested on charges of killing a young mother and snatching that woman's 3-day-old baby had been desperate to produce an infant for her fiancé after hiding a miscarriage form him, according to police. NBC's Jeff Rossen reports.
By Jeff Rossen, NBC News, and The Associated Press
A Texas nurse is expected in court Thursday, accused of killing a mother and snatching her 3-day-old baby in order to hide a miscarriage from her fiancé, police said.
Verna McClain, apparently desperate to find a baby after suffering a miscarriage, went looking for an infant where she knew she could find one: the suburban Houston clinic where she had taken her three children for checkups.
But when McClain went to the clinic this week, her choice of which mother and child to target appeared to have been made at random.
"There is nothing to indicate this was anything beyond planning further than" going to the clinic, Capt. Bruce Zenor of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said.
McClain saw her chance when 28-year-old Kala Golden and her 3-day-old son, Keegan Schuchardt, left the clinic Tuesday afternoon after his first ever checkup. McClain is accused of shooting Golden multiple times in the clinic's parking lot and speeding away with her tiny son.
Keegan was found unharmed hours later with McClain's sister who told authorities that McClain was planning to adopt the boy. Keegan is back with family members. Golden died at a hospital.
McClain was jailed without bail and faces a capital murder charge that carries a potential death sentence. The 30-year-old mother of three, who listed a Houston address, was set to make a court appearance Thursday before a judge in Conroe.
Montgomery County Sheriff's Detective John Schmitt said McClain, who authorities say has admitted shooting Golden and stealing the baby, does "appear remorseful for what happened."
McClain's estranged husband said he was shocked at the events of recent days.
"I can't believe she shot someone. That's not Vera," Theo McClain, of San Diego, told The Associated Press. A relative in Houston had been looking after the couple's three children since McClain's arrest.
Authorities say McClain had parked next to Golden at Northwoods Pediatric Center in Spring, about 20 miles north of Houston. As Golden was placing Keegan into her pickup truck, McClain shot her, snatched the child from the truck and sped off. The dying woman leaned into the vehicle and tried to take the boy back, screaming: "My baby!"
Later Tuesday, two detectives spotted a vehicle outside a nearby apartment complex that matched witnesses' descriptions of the one the shooter sped off in, said Montgomery County Sheriff Tommy Gage. Though McClain's apartment was empty, she showed up and talked to investigators.
Detectives then learned of a residence in Harris County where McClain's sister lives and the child might be, Gage said. Keegan was found later Tuesday evening at that home.
McClain's sister, Corina Jackson, told authorities that McClain had talked about needing to "do the adoption" soon after taking Keegan.
McClain was later arrested. Police do not believe anyone else was involved.
The kidnapped baby has been returned to his family, according to his father, Keith Schuchardt, who said he had been married to Kala Golden for three years.
McClain is a vocational nurse at a local staffing agency, a job that involves providing basic nursing services under the direction of registered nurses and doctors. She holds vocational nursing licenses in California and Texas and has not faced disciplinary action in either state, according to licensing boards.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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