Columbus

Mother of Missing Maryland Toddler Ordered Held on Bond; Recovery Efforts to Begin

Lawyer for mother said she made up story of leaving 14-month-old Cameron Beckford on a porch on Ohio

A Maryland woman who told police she abandoned her 14-month-old son on the front porch of a stranger's home in central Ohio was ordered held on $150,000 bond on Wednesday in her first court appearance.

Authorities said the little boy, Cameron Beckford, is presumed dead. The woman's attorney said she made up the porch story.

Dainesha Stevens is charged with endangering children and tampering with evidence and was held on $75,000 bond on each count. Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Michael Brandt also ordered her not to have any contact with children.

Stevens, 24, is charged with letting someone harm the child by severely disciplining him without trying to stop the person, according to charging information read in court Wednesday. The assault happened between Dec. 21 and Dec. 23, according to the charges.

Stevens' attorney said his client is cooperating with police in their search for the toddler.

Stevens made up the story about leaving the boy on the porch and says that was her way of asking for help, Collins said.

"There's reasons why she said what she said, but she's trying to do the right thing and that's what she did by helping yesterday and today," Collins said Wednesday after the brief court hearing.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, Stevens brought Cameron and his 6-year-old sister to Columbus from Frederick, Maryland on Dec. 15.

Collins said that before leaving Maryland, Stevens called police for help, and received a bus pass from the local protective services agency.

Frederick, Maryland police spokesman Lt. Clark Pennington said a domestic dispute preceded Stevens' departure.

"I know that they had, like, an argument on the 14th and that's why we think she went to Ohio on the 15th," he said. Pennington said he didn't have immediate access to details about the dispute.

Frederick police previously said the father of the two children called police Sunday and reported that their mother had taken them to an unknown location in Columbus in mid-December. Based on the father's concerns, missing-child reports were issued.

Collins said he didn't know the details of what happened in Maryland.

Stevens was staying with a male friend she knew as a teenager in Maryland, Collins said. That man is being held on misdemeanor warrants unrelated to the toddler's disappearance.

"It's our goal to keep that man in custody pending further investigation by the police," said Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien.

Columbus officers searched Tuesday near a creek with a dive team and helicopter after Stevens admitted she and a male acquaintance left Cameron on Friday night because they could no longer care for him. The area being searched on the city's far east side is more than two miles from the home where Stevens said she left the child.

Stevens pointed police to the creek, Collins confirmed Wednesday without providing details.

The search is now considered a recovery effort because of information obtained by investigators, said Sgt. Rich Weiner, a Columbus police spokesman.

Cameron's 6-year-old sister, Cheyenne, was turned over to Franklin County Children Services.

Police said Stevens had legal custody of both children.

A missing-child alert said the toddler was wearing a puffy black coat, gray pants, black and red boots and a gray elephant hat. Police say he has brown eyes and a Mohawk hairstyle.

A woman who answered the phone at a house believed to be the father's residence said he wasn't home. She said Beckford was her son. She apologetically declined to answer more questions and would not give her name. She also refused to open the door to the apartment, located in a densely populated neighborhood in the city, about 40 miles west of Baltimore.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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