Man to spend at least 36 years in prison for abducting his own baby

A man who kidnapped his own child in 2016 was sentenced to a minimum of 36 years in prison, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Friday.

David Watson, 53, could face life in prison after he took the child from his mother-in-law’s home on Oct. 12, 2016, the District Attorney’s Office said.

Watson and his partner, Christina Bell, lost custody of their baby in September 2016 after the Shasta Inter-agency Narcotics Task Force arrested Bell during a probation search of their home on suspicion of child endangerment and possessing drugs, officials said. The child was placed in the care of Bell’s mother.

On Oct. 12, Watson and Bell were at a supervised visit at the grandmother’s home in Sacramento County. At some point, Watson walked outside with the baby in his arms and pulled out a knife to ward off anyone trying to stop him. Bell joined him in the car and they fled to Shasta County.

Both were arrested within a few days and charged with child abduction, officials said. Bell was sentenced to just under a year in jail on Jan. 30, 2017, the release said.

Watson faced additional sentencing because this was his “third strike” as he had been convicted in 1987 and 1992 for separate crimes, the District Attorney’s Office said.

This story was originally published January 4, 2019 at 3:30 PM.