AUSTIN, Texas — Two people remain in jail following the attempted kidnapping of a 7-year-old girl in southeast Austin.
The arrests were made after an incident at an apartment complex near South Pleasant Valley Road on March 14.
According to an affidavit, officers were called to the complex after the 7-year-old’s mother reported a possible kidnapping. According to the mother, her daughter was missing from their apartment after she went to the store.
The mother told police she left the apartment and drove around looking for her daughter, but when she came back, an unopened case of sodas had been opened with some of the cans missing.
Neighbors then flagged police about a child screaming inside one of the apartments. Maintenance personnel were able to find the 7-year-old and reunite her with her mother.
A man inside the apartment, identified as 56-year-old Jeffery Caneen Jr., was detained by police. Caneen allegedly told police that his girlfriend, 32-year-old Taylor Brasher, brought the girl into the apartment.
The affidavit states Brasher arrived later and asked police if they were there for the little girl. Brasher claimed she found the 7-year-old around 2 a.m. and that she looked like “she hadn’t had her parents around for days.”
Brasher told police she packed a backpack with clothes and toiletries for the little girl and that she was going to take her to school on Monday once spring break ended. She later apologized for the “misunderstanding.”
However, after being reunited with her mother, concerns arose that the 7-year-old may have been assaulted.
The girl was taken for a physical exam when she told authorities she was walking to her aunt’s house before Brasher approached her.
According to the affidavit, the girl said Brasher took her back to her mom’s house, then ate her food and hit her in the head. Brasher then allegedly took the child back to her apartment and hit her in the chest, head and leg while she sat on the bed. Caneen also allegedly hit the child with Brasher while the child said she “wanted to go home.”
The child claimed Brasher and Canner were “visibly mad” and that she couldn’t escape. Injuries to the child showed she suffered bruising on her cheek.
Brasher was charged with felony aggravated kidnapping – sexual abuse. She remains in jail on a $100,000 bond. Meanwhile, Caneen was charged with aggravated kidnapping resulting in bodily injury. He’s being held in jail on a $50,000 bond.