Suspect in pregnant teen death had baby obsession

A few months later, Andrea Curry-Demus stabbed one woman in an apparent plot to steal her newborn; the next day, she kidnapped another baby from a hospital.

Curry-Demus, 38, of Wilkinsburg, was charged Sunday with homicide, kidnapping and related offenses in the death of Kia Johnson, 18.

Johnson's decomposing body, with her wrists and ankles bound by duct tape and layers of tape and plastic covering much of her head, was found Friday in Curry-Demus' apartment. A day earlier Curry-Demus had taken the baby to a hospital, claiming first that she was the mother and later that she paid for the child.

Authorities say the two women met at the Allegheny County jail on July 15 while visiting different inmates.

Efforts to determine if Curry-Demus has an attorney have been unsuccessful and no hearing has been set on the current charges.

Court records for Curry-Demus' 1990 criminal cases paint a picture of a woman apparently unable to deal with the loss of her own child in her seventh month of pregnancy. She was 21 at the time, and told authorities she also had miscarried at age 12.

"While she admitted committing the offenses, she had great difficulty in verbalizing her feelings or motivations other than to mention the loss of her own child due to a miscarriage several months prior to the present offenses," according to a presentence report prepared for the two criminal cases.

According to court records, Curry-Demus visited Magee-Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh in the spring of 1990 and she befriended a woman who had recently given birth there.

They exchanged numbers and Curry-Demus called the woman a few days later, telling her she wanted to visit the baby and bring some clothes. She spent the day with the woman, her husband and the new baby and even asked to stay overnight.