Andrea Curry-Demus

Case overview

Andrea Curry-Demus was convicted of second-degree murder in the killing of Kia Johnson, an 18-year-old from McKeesport, and of kidnapping in connection with an unborn child. The sentence was life in prison without parole.

Curry-Demus lured Johnson to her apartment, drugged her, bound her with duct tape, and cut Johnson’s unborn baby from her womb so she could pass it off as her own. Johnson died of a combination of blood loss and suffocation.

Johnson’s baby, Terrell Kian Barnes, survived the attack and was placed in the custody of the Johnson family.

The offence

Curry-Demus met Kia Johnson at the Allegheny County Jail in July 2008 while both were visiting inmates. While prosecutors said Johnson was visiting her unborn son’s father and Curry-Demus was visiting her husband, Tranquilli argued that Curry-Demus lured Johnson to her apartment to steal the baby.

Curry-Demus got Johnson to her Wilkinsburg apartment, drugged her, bound her with duct tape, and cut the baby from her.

After the attack, Curry-Demus wrapped Johnson’s body in more tape, plastic wrap and bags and a comforter, and she stuffed it in a space behind the bed. Johnson’s body was later found partially decomposed with evidence including bloody bedding and bathroom evidence.

Investigators found knives, duct tape, and plastic kitchen wrap at the apartment, and they found blue jeans that belonged to Johnson stuffed in Curry-Demus’ hamper with duct tape around one of the ankle cuffs.

Prosecutors said the prosecution did not seek to excuse Curry-Demus from a first-degree murder charge because she had mental health issues. Tranquilli also alleged Curry-Demus harvested the baby while Johnson was alive and restrained inside Demus’ bedroom the night of July 15, wrapping Johnson’s head in plastic and duct tape in a way he said showed intent to kill her.

Investigation

Investigators recovered physical and photographic evidence from the apartment. Deputy District Attorney Mark V. Tranquilli questioned Allegheny County Homicide Detective Timothy Langan about his investigation and presented items recovered from the apartment, including three bloody knives, a roll of plastic kitchen wrap, and a bloodstained roll of duct tape.

Photographic evidence included items as they were found in Curry-Demus’ apartment, bloody pillows and bedding, and a bloodstained bathroom. The prosecution said the most disturbing evidence included a photo of Johnson wrapped in bedding and plastic bags and stuffed in a hollow space behind the headboard of Curry-Demus’ bed and in her bedroom wall.

Authorities said dental records confirmed Johnson’s identity. Drugs were found at the apartment, and authorities awaited toxicology results to determine whether she was sedated. The medical examiner said the cause of death had not been determined at the time, and that it was unclear whether Johnson was alive when her infant was taken.

Police also said Johnson’s body had not been found earlier because Curry-Demus’ sister led investigators to another apartment. The sister was not charged.

Authorities initially were misled by Brooke Curry, who had shown investigators her own apartment and told them it was Curry-Demus’ apartment.

Arrest and charges

Andrea Curry-Demus was charged in connection with the slaying of Kia Johnson and the baby theft. Allegheny County police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said she was charged with criminal homicide, kidnapping, and unlawful restraint.

CNN reported that Curry-Demus was charged Thursday with endangering the welfare of a child, a felony, and dealing in infant children, a misdemeanor.

The criminal complaint described Curry-Demus telling Detective Rich Grande she purchased the baby from a woman named Tina for $1,000. The complaint also said Curry-Demus told Grande she had suffered a miscarriage in June and did not want her mother to get upset.

A prosecutor said the general charge of criminal homicide would be made more specific after a case was held for court.

Trial

Proceedings and parties

Curry-Demus faced a non-jury trial. Prosecutors presented their case against homicide suspect Andrea Curry-Demus.

Curry-Demus was 40 during the trial and was described as being of Wilkinsburg.

Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey A. Manning decided the case rather than a jury.

During the opening statement, Tranquilli argued that the defendant was not mentally insane and that she knew what she was doing was wrong. Tranquilli told the court he would ask that the judge find her “guilty but mentally ill.”

Curry-Demus’ attorney, Christopher Patarini, argued that Curry-Demus was not guilty by reason of insanity and said he would present information from mental health experts indicating “she was operating under severe psychosis when she cut the baby from the womb.”

Patrini described Curry-Demus as having delusions and other mental disorders for years. One major delusion described in court was that she believed she experienced a number of pregnancies and miscarriages.

Dr. Karen Velazquez testified that Curry-Demus had never been pregnant or miscarried to the doctor’s knowledge, based on regular appointments over nine years. The doctor said Curry-Demus had taken a urine test to see if she was pregnant, and the urine test came back positive; after that, an additional blood test determined she was not pregnant.

Valazquez said such tests sometimes produced false readings and that a blood test had to be administered to be sure. The staff member called Curry-Demus and told her she was not pregnant, and Curry-Demus apparently never told family members about the second, negative test.

Prosecution theory

Tranquilli noted an incident in 1990 in which Curry-Demus stabbed a pregnant woman and kidnapped another woman’s baby from a local hospital. He said because of that incident and the resulting prison term, “She knew she could not leave Kia Johnson alive.”

Tranquilli also described Curry-Demus as “carefully constructing this web, much like a spider” for weeks in advance.

Tranquilli told Judge Manning she should not be excused from first-degree murder because of her mental health issues and said the proper verdict would be guilty of first- or second-degree murder but mentally ill, which would require mental health treatment and serve a life sentence either in a mental facility or prison.

Defense theory

Patarini argued for an insanity defense and said Curry-Demus operated under severe psychosis when she cut the baby from the womb.

Patarini also said Curry-Demus had a history of mental problems and that she had a break with reality. He said her severe psychosis explained how she went about getting a baby.

Sentencing

Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning found Curry-Demus guilty of second-degree murder in March. The judge also found she was mentally ill.

Manning tacked on 20 years for kidnapping and said, “It would be a huge injustice if you were ever released into society.”

On May 17, 2010, Curry-Demus was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

At sentencing, Curry-Demus briefly turned around and faced the family of her 18-year-old victim Kia Johnson. She said, “I want to apologize to the family,” before facing the judge and saying, “I'm sorry.”

Johnson’s mother, Darlene Lee, was quoted saying, “I don't want her to have the death penalty. I want her to suffer, I really do,” and “I want her to suffer and think about what she did to my daughter and see my daughter's face every day that she wakes up.”

Outcome

Curry-Demus received a life sentence without parole.

Johnson’s baby, Terrell Kian Barnes, survived and was in the custody of the Johnson family.

Timeline

• Tuesday, July 15 — Kia Johnson left McKeesport to go to Allegheny County Jail to visit her baby’s father; surveillance video showed Kia Johnson talking with Andrea Curry-Demus while both visited different inmates.
• Wednesday, July 16 — Curry-Demus claimed someone else removed the baby from a woman delivered to her apartment and gave it to her; Curry-Demus claimed she took the baby to the apartment of her sister; Curry-Demus was taken to West Penn Hospital with the baby’s umbilical cord attached.
• Thursday, July 17 — Hospital determined Curry-Demus did not give birth to the child and notified police; Curry-Demus told police she bought the baby from a girl named “Tina” for $1,000; police filed charges of Endangerment of a Child and Dealing in Infant Children.
• Friday, July 18 — Homicide detectives were called to Ella Street apartment of Andrea Curry-Demus to investigate foul smell; detectives entered the apartment and found the body of a woman partially decomposed; investigators said the victim was bound with duct tape and a plastic bag was placed over her head; homicide investigation began.
• Saturday, July 19 — Autopsy completed; the medical examiner said the victim’s body was cut open at the uterus, with wounds consistent to the removal of an infant; manner of death listed as homicide; the victim was identified as Kia Johnson of McKeesport; clothes found on the victim were found consistent with what Kia Johnson was wearing on Tuesday’s jail surveillance tape.
• Sunday, July 20 — Additional charges of criminal homicide, kidnapping, and unlawful restraint were filed against Andrea Curry-Demus.

Other details

Curry-Demus met Johnson while both were visiting inmates at the Allegheny County Jail.

Curry-Demus lured Johnson to her apartment to steal the baby. She then told her sister and mother she had given birth in her bathroom, but hospital tests showed she was not the mother.

Curry-Demus told police she bought the baby from a crack addict; police found Johnson’s body after neighbors reported the stench of decomposition.

In July 2008, Curry-Demus arrived at a hospital with a newborn boy and falsely claimed she had just given birth. Hospital personnel determined she had not given birth and contacted police.

Curry-Demus told authorities she had bought the baby for $1,000 from a young black woman named Tina known to frequent the Wilkinsburg and Homewood areas.

Curry-Demus told her mother and sister that she gave birth; after hospital tests showed she was not the mother, she changed her story and told police she bought the baby from Tina.

At trial, questions included whether Curry-Demus believed Johnson had bought the baby; Curry answered softly, “I don't know.”

In trial testimony, Curry-Demus’ mother, Sharon Curry, described receiving a phone call about the positive urine test and said she and others were with her daughter at home when the call came in. Sharon Curry reported that Curry-Demus asked, “Will you tell my mom?” before handing her the phone. Sharon Curry testified her daughter’s due date was the end of June and that family members began planning a baby shower. Sharon Curry said she later saw an ultrasound picture shown by Curry-Demus and said, “We rubbed her belly,” and “Her eyes were lit up.” She said, “I was on cloud nine,” and “I was very, very happy.” Sharon Curry also said Curry-Demus told her doctors planned to induce labor at the end of June.

Sharon Curry said that when the date for inducement passed, Curry-Demus told her something was wrong. Sharon Curry said she described how she heard her daughter was having contractions and that she left work early to go to her daughter’s apartment.

In the CNN account, Wilkinsburg Police Chief Ophelia Coleman said Johnson’s body was not found earlier because Curry-Demus’ sister led investigators to another apartment.

Curry-Demus was described as having a history of mental illness. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that she was examined by psychiatrists at the Allegheny County Jail before sentencing and was diagnosed with severe depression, personality disorders, and auditory hallucinations. It also reported she told doctors she spent a lot of time thinking about her miscarriages and “kept hearing babies cry.”

CNN stated Curry-Demus became pregnant at 12 and miscarried four months later, and that she had a second miscarriage in 1990 when she was 21. It also reported that after the second miscarriage, she befriended a woman who had just given birth but later attacked her with a knife and tried to steal the baby; it said the woman’s husband intervened and she fled.

CNN said the next day Curry-Demus went to a hospital and befriended a woman who had brought her 3-week-old daughter to the hospital to be treated for meningitis; it reported Curry-Demus left the hospital with the baby, and it was found at her home unharmed the following day.

CNN reported that in 1991 she pleaded guilty to various charges stemming from both incidents and was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison. It reported she was paroled in August 1998 and ordered to serve 10 years of probation.

TheGrio account said Curry-Demus’ taped confession was played in court and that she said she bought Tina clothes “because of the kindness of my heart.”

In the trial accounts, Curry-Demus’ family members included Brooke Curry, who testified at a mental competency hearing for her sister.