Woman pleads guilty in bid to abduct baby

• Authorities said Judith Walker choked a Muncie mother by wrapping an extension cord around her neck, and demanded she be given the victim's 3-week-old baby.
• Walker said Monday that as a result of drug abuse, she remembered little about the events leading to her arrest.

MUNCIE – An Anderson woman faces up to 90 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to charges stemming from her bid to steal a Muncie infant from its mother.

Judith Ann Walker, 35, said Monday that due to drug abuse, she remembers little about the events of June 21, 2013, that led to her arrest.

Authorities said when Walker went to her victim's West Fernwood Way home that day, it marked the third time in recent weeks she had shown up purporting to be an exterminator from a local pest control company.

According to a pre-trial document filed by prosecutors, Walker on the day of the attack showed up "unexpectedly" at the victim's home, ostensibly to "place bait for the treatment of pill bugs and centipedes."

The victim reported she was sitting in a rocking chair holding her baby when Walker approached her from behind, wrapped an extension cord around the mother's throat and began choking her.

"I won't shoot you," Walker said, according to the victim. "I just want your baby."

The mother was able to break free and fled from the house with her child.

Walker was arrested several hours later in Anderson.

In Delaware Circuit Court 1 Monday, Walker pleaded guilty to burglary resulting in bodily injury, a Class A felony carrying a standard 30-year prison term, along with criminal confinement and attempted criminal confinement, both Class B felonies with standard 10-year sentences.

In a deal the Anderson woman's attorney, Michael Quirk, negotiated with prosecutors, a fourth charge — attempted murder, a Class A felony — would be dismissed.

Judge Marianne Vorhees took the plea agreement under advisement and tentatively set sentencing for Oct. 1.

Walker has been held in the Delaware County jail under a $100,000 bond since her arrest.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.