ORLANDO, Fla. — The boyfriend of a woman accused of abandoning her baby shortly after birth told Channel 9 he and the child’s mother have given away children before.
The baby still hasn’t been found.
Johnnie Bryant said he and Susan Richardson gave a girl to a family member and a boy to a different family member.
The children were given away at birth.
Bryant does have custody of a 7-year-old girl, whom he fathers with Richardson.
“I told them I couldn’t think about no three children or two children, I couldn’t do that,” Bryant said.
He placed his now 4-year-old daughter with his oldest son, and his now 5-year-old son with Richardson’s sister.
The Department of Children and Families joined the investigation on the third day of the search for the baby, who police have called Baby Willow.
Police believe the child was born somewhere in the Willow Bend Apartments.
A placenta and a bloody trail were found near Richardson’s home.
Bryant believes DCF will soon check on the daughter he’s been raising since infancy.
“I dress her, take her to church, she’s in the choir,” said Bryant.
In 2014, police surrounded a home looking for Bryant, with K-9s and handguns drawn.
A report said the encountered a hostile and argumentative Bryant, who grabbed his daughter, placed her on his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Bryant was charged with kidnapping for allegedly utilizing his daughter as a shield.
“How am I going to kidnap my daughter when I have custody of my daughter?” said Bryant.
He said he was keeping her safe from police activity.
Bryant said he is a good father and that Richardson is no killer.
“She’s not a threat to no children,” he said.
DCF said it can’t investigate unless someone reports suspected abuse.
Bryant said each time Susan was arrested and after his arrest, DCF did check out the living conditions for the couple’s daughter.
Cox Media Group
