Kidnapper of Child Is Declared Insane

A woman accused of abducting a 5-year-old boy from a Fairfax County grocery store was found not guilty by reason of insanity yesterday after prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed that she was mentally ill at the time.

A judge then ordered that Falah O. Joe be institutionalized for the Oct. 19 incident, in which Kamron Wells became separated from his family members at a Shoppers Food Warehouse. Joe, 28, encountered the boy in the parking lot and took him away on a Metro bus. The two were found by police the next day at a rowhouse in the District.

Government doctors who examined Joe agreed with a defense expert that she did not understand that her actions were wrong. The two sides then jointly told U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady that Joe was insane during the incident, and after a brief trial yesterday in Alexandria -- at which no witnesses were called -- O'Grady agreed.

Lawyers said it was highly unusual for prosecution and defense experts to agree in an insanity case. Such cases are often hotly contested and feature clashing opinions from doctors.

Federal public defender Michael Nachmanoff, who represented Joe, called it "a tragic case. We are thankful that this child was not injured and was recovered quickly and reunited with his family. And we are appreciative that the court found that [Joe] shouldn't be held criminally responsible for her actions.''

Prosecutors declined to comment but said in a statement that O'Grady had concluded that Joe's release "would present a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person." The judge ordered that Joe be placed in a mental health facility and that her case be reviewed annually.

Kamron had been shopping with his grandfather and older sister at the grocery store on Little River Turnpike when he wandered away. After Joe met the boy in the parking lot, she walked around with him before they boarded the bus, court records said. The two went to several other places in Virginia, which the records do not name, and wound up in the District.

Police searched for Kamron with helicopters and bloodhounds and gathered surveillance video from businesses, including images of the boy apparently being led away from the store by a woman. Police also issued an Amber Alert.

Joe, a former stripper, has had previous brushes with the law. In 2003, she smuggled scissors into D.C. Superior Court during the sentencing of an ex-boyfriend implicated in a killing at the club where she danced. At the hearing, Joe tried to attack the ex-boyfriend. A deputy marshal intervened and was stabbed in the hand.

After being charged with kidnapping Kamron, Joe was removed from a federal courtroom in the District when she began shouting.