The woman accused of abducting her “daughter” from a hospital 18 years ago has appeared in court as the teenager gave an emotional first TV interview.
Gloria Williams, 51, wore an orange prison uniform when she stood before the judge on the charge of kidnapping Kamiyah Mobley.
She had her bond set at £410,000 ($503,000) for the charge of interference with custody and had no bail set for the kidnapping charge. She did not speak at the hearing.
Hours earlier her daughter had gone on national TV in the US defending her mother's actions.
Speaking to Good Morning America, she broke her silence saying: "I understand what she did was wrong, but just don’t lock her up and throw away the key.
Using her name of Alexis Manigo, she remained cool and calm as she told the hosts: "She loved me for 18 years, she cared about me for 18 years. I just want people to realize that." Kamiyah Mobley who was abducted at birth reunited with mother Shanara Mobley and father Craig Aiken
She then added: "She made one mistake, but I was loved. From that one mistake I was given the best life. "I had everything I ever needed, wanted, I had love especially. There is no price you can put on the love that was given to me."
Manigo, who was born with the name of Kamiyah Mobley and was taken in Jacksonville, Florida, went on to say: "I still think of her as mom, she will always be 'Mom.'" The teen was only eight hours old when she was taken from the hospital where she was born by a woman posing as a nurse at the University Medical Center in Jacksonville. Williams allegedly said the tot had a fever and had to be looked at elsewhere when she left with the baby.
Manigo apparently told authorities she "had an inclination" she may have been kidnapped, but did not explain why she thought that.
At the same time they got a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and it led them to arrest Williams.
Manigo revealed she talks to her mother every day, but hasn't seen her since last week when the pair had a tearful farewell through prison bars.
Then Williams was extradited to Florida She said she was struggling with people thinking she should blame her "mother" for what happened: "They want me to hate her, and it's not in me to. I will always love her."
Manigo also discussed meeting her biological parents Craig Aiken and Shanara Mobley, last week: "I feel like I do owe them that, to give them a chance, get to know them. "When you find out you got another family out there, it's just more love." She added: "For some it's a victory, but at the same time you do take a loss when someone so dear to you is just snatched like that."
Manigo also discussed the difficulty of the knowing which name to use: "It's all a bit much for me, but if you know me by 'Alexis' continue to call me 'Alexis' if you know me as 'Kamiyah,' then you can call me that too.
"I'm not really specific right now. I haven't even thought about that, I'm just taking it one step at a time. I don't want any malice with anybody." She added: "Regardless of what you refer to me to, I know who I am, I’ve never questioned myself. I know who I am as a person."
Manigo's friend and "half-sister" told People she already knew she had been abducted two years ago because she had issues when she applied for a job.
Arika Williams said: "She was upset about it. She even stayed home from school the next day."
She explained Manigo has issued whenshe was asked to hand over a birth certificate and social security card for her employer: "Lexy didn’t have that so she asked Miss Gloria for it and Miss Gloria kept brushing it off. "Lexy kept being hard on her mother, like 'Momma, where is my stuff? I want to get this job.'
"Then Miss Gloria just broke down and told her 'this is why right here, you can’t do this. I kidnapped you.'" Arika claimed Williams said she made the decision to kidnap Manigo after suffering a miscarriage.
Meanwhile Manigo's "father" Charles gave an interview saying how shocked he was about finding out his daughter was his.
But she slammed the chat on Facebook claiming he had never been there for her when she was growing up.
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