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A mother has been charged in connection with an Amber Alert for a 10-month-old baby who was believed to have been in “extreme danger,” state police in Virginia said Wednesday.
The police issued the alert for the baby, Cedar Samuel Griffith, on Tuesday after a child abduction allegedly occurred on Monday at about 8:10 p.m. ET. The alert asked people to be on the watch for a 30-year-old woman named Ashley Jordan Griffith, who police said was the woman “believed” to have abducted the baby.
On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office in Madison County, Kentucky, said Ashley Griffith was arrested following a motorist assistance stop at about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the Madison County Sheriff’s Office told Newsweek that Griffith is the child’s mother.
More information about the arrest, including why Griffith allegedly took the child, remained unknown as of Wednesday afternoon.
“Deputy Shane Johnson made contact with the female driver with a small child passenger. The driver identified as Ashley Griffith stated she needed a jump start for her vehicle,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a post to Facebook.
Police discovered the Virginia Amber Alert after further investigation of the vehicle and proceeded to arrest her on charges of resisting arrest and being a fugitive from another state. She was being held in the Madison County Detention Center, and the baby was taken into custody by the sheriff’s deputies, according to the post.
Meanwhile, the Virginia State Police updated its alert to say that “both missing individuals have been safely located.”
Before Griffith’s arrest, the child was last seen on Daniel Boone Road in Gate City, Virginia, which is just north of the border with Tennessee. The two were ultimately located at the 5800 block of Battlefield Memorial Highway in Berea, Kentucky, more than 160 miles away from Gate City.
Madison County is in central Kentucky and contains Richmond and the southern suburbs of Lexington.
The Amber Alert was first issued just after 3 p.m. on Tuesday. “The child is believed to be in extreme danger and was last seen on Daniel Boone Road in Gate City, VA,” it said.
Amber Alerts began in 1996 following the abduction and death of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas.
Once law enforcement determines a child has been abducted and that the abduction meets the Amber Alert criteria, police notify broadcasters and state transportation officials about the abduction, according to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs.
The program has been credited with helping the recovery of 1,200 children, according to the DOJ. In 2022, 227 Amber Alerts were issued across the United States.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Virginia Delegate Dan Helmer led fellow Democrats to major gains in November’s election. Now he’s turning his attention to the redistricting of the Commonwealth, and a run in the newly proposed 7th district. He joins Sydney Persing on The Final 5 to discuss.
FAIRFAX, Va. (7News) — Virginia State Police have identified the man who was shot and killed by a trooper after a crash ended in a stabbing attack on Interstate 495 Sunday afternoon.
Jared Llamado, 32, of McLean, died at the hospital on Sunday after he was shot.
RELATED | 2 dead, dog killed after stabbing spree, trooper shooting on I-495 in Fairfax County
Investigators said Llamado was confronted by the trooper who opened fire around 1:17 p.m. The trooper was responding to a report of a road rage incident and found Llamado with a knife, according to a news release.
Four stabbing victims, all women, were also found at the scene, along with a dog that was also stabbed.
Michelle Adams, 39, died from her injuries. The dog also did not survive. The three other women were all taken to the hospital with serious injuries, according to VSP. 7News is not identifying the surviving victims.
Investigators said the stabbings stemmed from a crash in the southbound lanes of I-495.
The trooper who opened fire was not hurt and is on leave pending the outcome of the investigation into the use of force.
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Investigators said they do not believe the attack is connected to terrorism.
A road rage incident led to a shooting involving the Virginia State Police on Sunday on Interstate 495. Four individuals were also stabbed.
Two people are dead Sunday in Annandale, Virginia, after a road rage incident led to a shooting involving Virginia State Police on Interstate 495.
A release issued by the Virginia State Police said a trooper fatally shot a man after responding to a report of a road rage incident on the southbound lanes of I-495 just before 1:30 p.m. at exit 52, near the Little River Turnpike.
The man, transferred to a hospital with serious injuries, has been pronounced dead. VSP said the trooper shot in self-defense after the man confronted him with a knife.
The trooper did not suffer any injuries during the altercation.
Officials found four stabbing victims at the scene, but only identified a 39-year-old woman and a dog. Both the woman and the dog died.
Early findings suggest the stabbings took place after a crash on the Capital Beltway. The crash remains under investigation.
The VSP’s release comes after the main lanes of the Capital Beltway Outer Loop, before Little River Turnpike, were closed to traffic for several hours, only recently opening the express lanes. Main lanes between Arlington Boulevard and the Little River Turnpike remain closed.
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