MCKEESPORT, Pa. (AP) - The parents of a slain pregnant woman said Friday they have forgiven the suspect charged with killing their daughter and cutting her baby out of the womb.
The parents of Kia Johnson, 18, spoke after a funeral for their daughter, whose body was found bound and eviscerated last week in the Wilkinsburg home of Andrea Curry-Demus.
"I forgive her for the simple fact that if she wouldn't have took the baby to the hospital, we would not have been able to find our daughter," said Johnson's mother, Darlene Lee, of Washington, D.C.
Her father, Eric Johnson Sr., of McKeesport, said he also forgave the woman, saying he had God in his heart.
Allegheny County police say Curry-Demus, 38, took the newborn boy with his umbilical cord still attached to a Pittsburgh hospital on July 16 and claimed she had just given birth. Suspicious hospital staff contacted police, who on July 18 found Johnson's decomposing body in Curry-Demus' apartment.
Curry-Demus is charged with homicide, kidnapping and related offenses. Authorities believe the two women met at the county jail July 15 while they were visiting different inmates.
Johnson's son was released from the hospital Wednesday.
On Thursday, an Allegheny County judge ruled Curry-Demus competent to assist in her defense, despite a psychiatrist's testimony that she is a paranoid schizophrenic. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 22.
Curry-Demus' attorney, Angela Carsia, said her client intends to plead not guilty.