Ashley Harmon and Jonathan Flint have been charged with child neglect after trying to sell Harmon's 3-month-old baby for $500 to $1000 in West Virginia.
Deputies said the couple showed up at a neighbor's door and tried to get Carolyn Redden to buy the child. She refused, but took the child in to care for her. Redden did not want to show her face on camera, but she spoke to Eyewitness News about her efforts.
"Why have a child if you're not going to care for it?" Redden said. "Just because it is hard doesn't mean you give up on a child."
The mother ran away leaving the sick baby at Redden's home. The couple left one soiled diaper and a bottle of spoiled milk.
"I ran out and got diapers and more bottles for her," Redden said. "She was shaking, clinching her fists, crying and screaming."
The baby had diaper rash so badly and was so sick, Redden called 9-1-1. Her call to law enforcement may have saved the child's life. She gave names and descriptions to Fayette County detectives, and they were able to track down the couple and arrest them.
Captain Jim Sizemore said any case involving a child is difficult, but this case is especially rare.
"These are all of our children," Sizemore said. "I don't care what race, ethnicity or gender a child is. They are a kid. They are innocent. We will do everything we can to protect these children."
Redden's granddaughter Tonya Kessler could not wrap her head around someone putting a price on a child. However she said this baby was in the right hands.
"My grandma would do anything for anyone," Kessler said. "She is incredible. My question is, why are people like this having children? There are so many people who would love to have a baby and can't. I knew that baby was in the right hands when my grandma had her. She was well taken care of."
Fayette County deputies said Ashley Harmon has two other children she has left in another part of the state. They also said the baby's biological father had nothing to do with this. He did not know where the mother had taken the child. The baby is currently with Child Protective Services. They will decide if the biological father will get custody.
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