In the end, after a kidnapping plot orchestrated from jail fell apart because of a flat tire, three alleged culprits were charged with federal crimes in the District, authorities said.
That’s the shorthand version of what happened.
The two duct-taped victims in the case, who also had been stabbed, managed to escape from the back seat of a car bound for Pennsylvania, according to authorities.
But there was more to it than that.
The violent scheme unfolded a few months ago, starting with Instagram messages about a pregnancy, authorities said. Now, two women and a man are accused of taking part in a kidnapping conspiracy that involved armed robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Washington.
Lawyers for the three either declined to comment or did not return a message seeking comment. The bizarre alleged plot was first reported by WJLA (Channel 7).
Authorities said the conspiracy played out rapidly, though not exactly as planned.
Three months ago, they said, Robynn Danielle Bynum, 18, of Fort Washington, Maryland, contacted to another woman on Instagram, saying she was pregnant and wanted someone to talk with. The two became friends and eventually began working together, according to court documents. But Bynum had an ulterior motive for starting the relationship, authorities said.
The father of Bynum’s child — 21-year-old Kayvon Edwards — had been arrested in February on rape, assault and firearm charges in Prince George’s County, Maryland, according to authorities and online court records.
That case has since been dropped because of “burden of proof issues,” according to the federal court filings. But it was still active when the kidnapping conspiracy began, authorities said.
The alleged rape victim, a Maryland resident, was the woman Bynum befriended on social media. Bynum’s true purpose was to convince the woman to recant her rape allegation, according to authorities, who said Edwards cooked up the idea from the Prince George’s jail.
When Bynum told the woman that “she needed to drop her case against” Edwards, court documents say, the woman stopped communicating with Bynum. After that, authorities said, the conspiracy took a bloody turn.
A month went by after the alleged rape victim cut ties with Bynum, and Edwards was awaiting an Oct. 21 court appearance in the rape case.
On Oct. 19, authorities said, a third conspirator, 20-year-old Cierra Charity Lee, of Southeast Washington, entered the picture. Lee contacted the alleged rape victim, also via Instagram, and offered her a babysitting job, court documents say. While the woman was interested at first, she changed her mind when she arrived at the location because “she did not feel comfortable” being by herself.
Lee persisted, however, and called the woman again the following day, Oct. 20, according to authorities. They said the woman agreed to babysit, but brought along a friend. Neither the friend nor the alleged rape victim have been publicly identified.
Around 8 p.m. on Oct. 20, the woman and her friend drove from Maryland to Lee’s residence in Southeast, near Suitland Parkway and Stanton Road, authorities said. They said Lee ushered them through a side gate and into the basement, where the women were given a car seat and a diaper bag.
Then they were ambushed, authorities said.
Bynum came out of a room behind them and began stabbing the alleged rape victim in the back, according to court documents. The woman fell to the floor, and when her friend tried to help, the friend suffered cuts to a wrist and elbow, authorities said.
They said Lee then duct-taped the friend’s hands and put her in a bathroom, and Bynum did the same to the alleged rape victim. Bynum and Lee then rifled through the two women’s pockets, stealing their phones, car keys and other belongings, authorities said.
While Lee tended to the alleged rape victim’s injuries and tried to clean blood from the bathroom, authorities said, she and Bynum yelled at the woman to “drop her case against Kayvon.” Authorities said Edwards also was the father of Lee’s child.
After a while, with the two victims duct-taped in the bathroom, Bynum and Lee indicated that “they were going to be taken to Pennsylvania and dropped off somewhere so they couldn’t get back to Maryland” in time for Edwards’ Oct. 21 court appearance, authorities said.
With their eyes taped, the victims couldn’t see where the kidnappers were traveling as they sat in the back seat of the alleged rape victim’s car. However, they could hear Bynum and Lee arguing about the “bad job” the driver was doing, running red lights and swerving, according to the court documents.
The victims felt a bump, and the car stopped. They heard Bynum and Lee get out of the vehicle and lock the doors, authorities said. After about 30 minutes, the victims helped each other remove the duct tape from their hands and eyes.
Then they fled, flagging down a passerby. A U.S. Park Police Officer, responding to a 911 call for a stabbing about 11:45 p.m., found the two women in the 3200 block of Minnesota Avenue SE. D.C. police found the alleged rape victim’s car nearby, with blood stains and pieces of duct tape on the back seat, according to the court documents.
One of the car’s front tires was flat.
The victims, who were treated at a hospital and released, picked photos of Bynum and Lee from an array of headshots that police showed them, authorities said.
Bynum, Lee and Edwards are all in jail awaiting federal prosecution.
Meanwhile, the state’s attorney’s office in Prince George’s said it will work with federal authorities on the kidnapping prosecution as needed.
Authorities said they reviewed multiple taped phone calls from the jail and heard Edwards talking with Bynum and Lee before and during the alleged abduction. As the three discussed their plan, authorities said, they referred to the alleged rape victim as “he” and “him,” apparently in an attempt at subterfuge.
“If you get caught while he in that car,” Edwards allegedly warned, “y’all are done.”
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