Woman raises money for young mother whose car was repossessed with baby inside

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE/Gray News) - A woman is asking for help for a young mother whose car was repossessed while her baby was still inside.

Sabriya Miles said she thought her 7-day-old baby was being kidnapped after her car was taken with her child in it.

On Thursday, Miles said she left her baby in the running vehicle while dropping her toddler off at day care. When she turned around, she saw someone driving off with the vehicle and her baby.

Another mother helped Miles follow the car down the street.

“I couldn’t talk,” said Miles. “I was just too frustrated, and I was crying. I carried my baby for nine months and now I lost her.”

Police said the man who came to repossess the vehicle had mistakenly driven off with the child.

Miles said she had no warning the car was being repossessed.

“We talked about the situation of what I’m going through, and he sounded understandable,” she said.

The new mother is now left without a car. Her children’s car seats and her cellphone are still inside the repossessed vehicle.

“To think about the humanity of repossessing the car at a day care, I would have been livid had a dealer done that in my parking lot to a family,” said Tanisha Carothers, a lawyer and day care owner.

Carothers said seeing the mom’s story earlier this week tugged on her heartstrings. Now, she is trying to raise money to get Miles back on her feet.

“With the right resources, with the right community support, we have the ability to completely change the trajectory of a family’s life,” Carothers said.

Miles said she learned from the experience.

“I’ve been a mom since I was 15 years old, and this is the first time that anything like this has ever happened to me,” she said. “I won’t let it happen again.”

Carothers has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for a new car and a few baby items for Miles and her child.

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