The lawyer for a woman arrested in Boston early Saturday morning after she prompted an Amber Alert by leaving Pennsylvania with her baby says the entire incident was "blown out of proportion."
The Amber Alert was issued around 1:45 a.m. Saturday for 36-year-old Tiffany Cherry and her 2 ½-month-old son, Quavai. Police say his mother fled with him Friday afternoon and was thought to be driving a car with New Hampshire license plates. Massachusetts State Police say the pair were found about an hour after the alert at Boston Children's Hospital, where Cherry went to get her son treated for dehydration. A nurse recognized them.
Cherry was arraigned on Monday morning on child endangerment and other charges, and released on $250 bail. The judge also ordered her to surrender herself in Pennsylvania on an arrest warrant within 14 days.
Stephen Weymouth, Cherry's lawyer, told the court the whole incident was "blown out of proportion," and the unnecessary Amber Alert woke up millions of people at 2 a.m. for no reason. Her niece told necn that Cherry "freaked out" when doctors in Pennsylvania tried to admit her undernourished infant son to the hospital. The niece said she meant no harm and just wanted her sick child cared for in Boston.
Cherry's son is in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
