While out shopping with her mum in a Walmart in Georgia, 7-yeal-old Brittany Baxter wandered off to the toy aisle, where she was approached by a man who tried to abduct her. Brittany said she had been looking at 'Bratz dolls' and 'princess things', when the man approached her. She said she told him she had to go find her mum, when he grabbed her.
Despite his efforts, Brittany had the wherewithall to fight back. She kicked and screamed, even though he tried to cover her mouth, and the man gave up, dropped her and ran out of the shop.
Brittany's mum, Georgeann Baxter, who is said to have been shopping in a different aisle, says 'she was freaking out' when she heard her daughter screaming.
Cameras outside the shop showed the suspect get into his car, and police later found, arrested and charged Thomas Andrew Woods, a 25 year old parolee who had been released from prison for a previous conviction for involuntary manslaughter which apparently dated back to his teens. He matched the man in the shop footage, but denied all knowledge of the event to reporters, and claimed that hadn't been there.
Needless to say, Brittney’s family are just relieved that their daughter is OK. Her father, Randall Baxter is reported saying: 'I’m very proud of her,' and 'I just thank the Lord that she got away.'
Brittney's mum says the little girl is “scared to death” after the incident, but knows what to do if this ever were to happen again, saying 'Always scream, try to scream and kick as hard as you can and go get someone you can trust'.
The security cameras in the shop show exactly what happened, in a chilling reminder of how quickly something horrendous like this can happen.
