Woman cleared in kidnapping case

For almost a year, Laurinda Drake woke up every morning knowing she could spend the rest of her life behind bars.

She and another woman were accused of snatching a 6-year-old boy off the street near Mackey Elementary School on Sept. 8. Police said the pair took the first-grader as a stunt to highlight lax school security.

But after a three-day trial, a jury Thursday found Drake not guilty.

Drake burst into tears after the verdict was read in District Court. She hugged her attorneys and supporters inside the courtroom but declined to comment after she was found not guilty.

"She wanted vindication by a jury. And she just got it," said one of her attorneys, Chief Deputy Public Defender Jordan Savage.

The jury took about two hours to reach its verdict. Jurors declined to comment Thursday.

Savage said authorities never should have charged Drake, 41, with first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and luring a child. She was acquitted on all charges.

He said Drake was a concerned mother who was worried about the boy's safety when she picked him up in her minivan near Mackey, a North Las Vegas school near Commerce Street and Carey Avenue. The boy was unharmed.

"She didn't deserve this," Savage said of the charges.

Prosecutors declined to comment because Drake's co-defendant, Elaine Clermont, is scheduled for trial in June.

Clermont, 41, is facing the same charges as Drake. She did not attend Drake's trial.

Both Drake and Clermont had children who attended Mackey at the time of the incident. Drake was described as an unassuming parent who volunteered at the school. Clermont had a reputation among school officials as a gadfly.

After Drake picked up the boy in her minivan, she drove to Clermont's home. The pair called school officials and police by phone about four times to alert them that they had the student.

The pair refused to return the boy to Mackey but surrendered him at the Clark County School District's headquarters about 90 minutes after taking him.

Deputy District Attorney Michelle Thomas called what Drake did a "mother's worst fear." She said the boy's mother was worried about him while he was with Drake.

"That child belonged at Jo Mackey (Elementary School)," she said during closing statements.

But Savage told the jury that first-degree kidnapping is reserved for "cold-blooded" criminals, such as child molesters or people who steal kids to hold them for ransom. Drake was merely trying to protect the 6-year-old when she saw him walking alone near the school. Her only intent was to "inform, return and protect" the child, he said.

He conceded that Drake may have made some bad decisions, such as not returning him directly to Mackey.

When Drake testified Wednesday, she told the jury she didn't return him to the school because she had a "gut feeling" that he'd be further endangered there.

Lt. Ken Young of the Clark County School Police said the incident was "considered an isolated case." District safety protocols weren't be changed because of it.

Mackey Principal Kemala Washington was unavailable for comment.

Terri Janison, president of the Clark County School Board, said that while she did not have access to the same information the jury did, "I don't find it acceptable, ever, for anyone to take someone else's child."

Before Drake's trial, prosecutors offered to allow her to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping with possible probation. But she turned it down.

Savage said she didn't want to take the deal because she wanted to prove her innocence. "She wanted a jury to say 'Not guilty of all charges.' "

Review-Journal writer James Haug contributed to this report. Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal. com or 702-380-1039.