PITTSBURGH -- Police said a slain pregnant woman may have been alive and possibly drugged when a baby was ripped from her womb, allegedly by a woman who tried to pass the infant off as her own.

The woman suspected of cutting open a pregnant woman's uterus and stealing the baby was charged with homicide, unlawful restraint and kidnapping, police said Sunday.

WTAE Channel 4 Action News learned Sunday that dental records positively identified what an autopsy could not: The remains found in a Wilkinsburg apartment on Friday belong to Kia Johnson, 18, who was 36 weeks pregnant.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the positive identity Sunday morning. Johnson's body was found with hands and legs bound by duct tape in an apartment owned by Andrea Curry-Demus, 38. Authorities said it appeared that Johnson had been dead for two days before they discovered her in the bedroom of the fly-infested apartment on Ella Street.

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On Thursday, Curry-Demus, 38, arrived at West Penn Hospital with a newborn who still had his umbilical cord attached. Wilkinsburg Police Chief Ophelia Coleman said Sunday the child was "under observation." Williams earlier said the baby was "apparently doing well." The hospital has declined to release any information about the child.

The incident led police to search an apartment in Wilkinsburg, but police said they believe Curry-Demus' sister led officers to the wrong unit.

Wilkinsburg police said Curry-Demus faked her pregnancy and claimed the infant boy was hers before admitting to investigators that she had not given birth and had bought the infant for $1,000. Curry-Demus had told friends for months that she was expecting a child.

"Miss Curry-Demus (went) to the hospital with the child claiming to have given birth," Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said.

According to police reports, Curry-Demus said she had a miscarriage in June, and then agreed to purchase an infant from a woman named Tina for $1000.

On Sunday afternoon, Allegheny County and Wilkinsburg police announced homicide, unlawful restraint and kidnapping charges against Curry-Demus in the death of Johnson. An autopsy completed Saturday morning indicated "moderate decomposition" of Johnson's body and cuts to her lower body.

"Her abdomen had been opened with a sharp weapon. The uterus had been opened. The uterus appeared gravid, which means that there had been a baby there," Allegheny County Medical Examiner Dr. Karl Williams said on Saturday afternoon.

A precise cause of death remains under investigation. The medical examiner said they are also investigating whether Johnson may have been drugged, saying they found no sign of a struggle.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht told Action News it's likely that there was more than one person involved in Johnson's death. He said the most likely scenario is that Johnson was strangled before her baby was taken from her body.

"I base that on the fact that the hands were bound, the feet were bound and a plastic bag was over her head, bound around the neck with duct tape," Wecht said. "If she's already dead, there's obviously no need in the world to place those bindings."

How They Met

Johnson's relatives said she did not frequent the Wilkinsburg area. Johnson is from McKeesport.

According to police, Johnson and Curry-Demus knew each other, but it is not known how well. Authorities did not specify how the suspect was able to get the victim to the Wilkinsburg apartment.

Police said in court papers that video surveillance at the Allegheny County Jail from Tuesday afternoon shows Curry-Demus talking with Johnson for several minutes. The women were at the jail visiting different inmates, police said.

The clothing Johnson is seen wearing on the surveillance tape was consistent with the garments found on her body, police said.

The jail was the last time Johnson was seen alive, Moffatt said. Curry-Demus had denied meeting Johnson, police said in court papers.

Wilkinsburg Police Chief Ophelia Coleman said investigators had a tough time at first finding Curry-Demus' home because the suspect's sister deliberately led officers to the wrong apartment. It was not immediately specified as to whether more charges could be filed in the case.

"The investigating is ongoing. So, we have yet to determine whether anyone will be charged yet," Coleman said.

While leaving the Wilkinsburg Police Department on Thursday, Curry-Demus said, "I didn't do nothing." She was arraigned early Friday and remains at the Allegheny County Jail on charges of endangering the welfare of a child.

In 1990, Curry-Demus, then known as Andrea Curry, was accused of stabbing a Wilkinsburg woman in an alleged plot to steal the woman's infant. A day after that stabbing, Curry-Demus snatched a 3-week-old baby girl from a hospital after the child's 16-year-old mother had gone home for the night. The baby was found unharmed with Curry-Demus at her home the next day.

Curry-Demus pleaded guilty in 1991 to various charges from both incidents and got three to 10 years in prison, according to court records. She was paroled in August 1998.

"After coming to our attention the fact of who this person is, and that she does have a history of doing this sort of thing before, we are concerned about the (baby's) parent," Coleman said.

Curry-Demus is being held without bond.

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