Amber Alert canceled, reported to be hoax

GALVESTON, TX (KTRK) -- The Galveston Police Department has canceled an Amber Alert for a 6-month-old child. They say the whole thing was a hoax.

According to investigators, the person who reported the abduction made the story up and is now facing charges.

Galveston Police Chief Henry Porretto said at a press conference Friday afternoon that Mikeshia Taylor, 27, confessed to the false report.

Taylor, Porretto said, had loaned out her car to a group of girls so they could attend a party in Houston. However, Porretto said Taylor wanted her car back immediately, leading her to file the false report.

Taylor has been arrested and charged with making a false report, a state jail felony, due to the number of agencies involved in the case. She is being held on $80,000 bond, which, Porretto said, is "a statement in and of itself" as to the severity of the alleged crimes.

Porretto said Galveston police took Taylor's initial report at face value, but tips from the community and inconsistencies in her report led them to investigate further. The story, they say, eventually tumbled out to investigators a few hours after the alert was issued.

"She confessed to making a false report just to get her car back," Porretto said. "She's upset. She had little remorse. ... She took matters into her own hands and ... she manipulated law enforcement. It's a sad situation, but we thank the public for helping us."

Taylor finally confessed to lying to police about the abduction of the child, and stated that she was never babysitting a six-month-old, and that neither Baby Jerome, nor his alleged mother, Dasani Brown, even exists.

As for the young women who were initially considered suspects in the case, Porretto said they actually helped the situation reach its resolution.

Poretto said officers didn't jump the gun in what he called a "textbook operation." He said officers worked with the information they had.

Poretto called the case "absurd" and railed against the waste of resources. He said officers were taken off other normal cases to respond to this alert. He added this is the first false Amber Alert report they've received.

Poretto said, "The main thing is there is no missing child and someone who did something bad is in custody."