Florida Woman Charged With Attempted Murder After Allegedly Kidnapping Kids From Foster Mom

A Florida woman who allegedly kidnapped her kids from their foster mother is facing an attempted murder charge after police say a male accomplice shot the other woman.

Candi Johnson faces first degree attempted murder, kidnapping and burglary charges for allegedly taking two of her children, who had been placed in state custody, from their foster mother Wendy Edmond on Friday, according to the Miami Herald.

During the kidnapping, police say a male accomplice shot the 77-year-old foster mother multiple times, the Herald reports. He remains at large, while Edmond remains in stable condition in the hospital.

Florida’s child protective service agency, known as the Division for Children and Families, had taken Johnson’s children from her in March, and placed two of them in foster care following her arrest for allegedly pointing a firearm at a DCF worker, the Herald reports.

“Johnson pulled a gun on the DCF worker and threatened to shoot the worker if he touched the children,” the March 9 arrest report says.

“Johnson proceeded to duct tape the children’s mouths shut and ushered the children out of the rear of the resident to avoid further contact with DCF. Johnson fled the area with (redacted) children and the children were entered as missing and endangered on March 9.”

Johnson did four years and eight months in prison for child abuse and fleeing law enforcement without regard for safety before being released in August 2012, according to the Bradenton Herald, a local newspaper in southern Florida. In 2015 she was arrested again on a charge of child neglect, but the charge wasn’t prosecuted, the Herald reports.

The four children taken from her in March were all born after her release from prison, according to the Herald.

It wasn’t until July 20 that a court formally approved the taking of her children following the March incident, according to the affidavit in support of Johnson’s arrest warrant, obtained by Oxygen.com.

As described in the arrest affidavit, Johnson “knocked on the front door and, when (Edmond) opened the door, (Johnson) forced her way inside of the residence, demanding her children.”

Johnson and her armed male companion then searched the foster mother’s house, going room to room, the affidavit says. When Johnson and her friend each grabbed one child, the 77-year-old Edmond resisted and fought back.

That’s when “the black male produced a firearm and shot (Edmond), the victim fell to the floor and the black male stood over the victim, shooting her multiple times while she laid on the floor,” the affidavit says.

Miami police found Johnson and the two children, unharmed, two hours later.

[Photo: Miami-Dade Police]