Couple trades pickup for infant child

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Jeremy and Jamiee Brown (center) are led to the Laurel County Detention Center after their arrest for trading a Dodge pickup for an infant belonging to a “childhood friend” who did not want the child. Also shown are Lt. Rodney Van Zant and Chief Deputy Eddy Sizemore. Photo by Nita Johnson

July 17, 2012

Couple trades pickup for infant child

Mother on the lam

By Nita Johnson Staff Writer The Sentinel-Echo Tue Jul 17, 2012, 03:19 PM EDT

LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — In a bizarre incident Thursday, Laurel County Sheriff’s officials arrested a Keavy couple for trading a pickup truck for a newborn child.

Hand-in-hand but making no comment, Jeremy and Jamiee Brown of 281 Devil’s Neck Road, Corbin, walked from the sheriff’s office to the Laurel County Detention Center following their arrest Thursday afternoon for human trafficking with a victim under 18 years old, a Class B felony and carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

Sheriff’s officials, however, had plenty to say concerning the incident involving the now 6-month-old child who had been in the care of the Browns nearly since its birth.

Lt. Rodney Van Zant said their department received information on Thursday morning concerning the alleged trade of a 1999 silver Dodge Dakota pickup belonging to the Browns to 30-year-old Heather Kaminskey of Corbin in January. Kaminskey is allegedly a childhood friend of the Browns and came to the area in January when she was nine months pregnant.

“She had the baby on Jan. 12 and they (Browns) had it almost since birth,” Van Zant said. “She has two other children who were taken by social services in Florida and came to Kentucky when she was nine months pregnant to avoid them from taking that child. She has warrants in Florida for meth precursor charges.”

Van Zant added Kaminskey had reportedly sold the pickup to another person “for $800 and an undisclosed amount of meth.” When the vehicle registration was ran, Detectives Jason Back and Brad Mitchell and Lt. Van Zant located the current owner and the vehicle in the Keavy area. The owner confirmed he did purchase the truck from Kaminskey but denied any knowledge of selling drugs.

However, a third party at that residence told officials Kaminskey did have a newborn child but she had not been seen in over a week and was reportedly staying with her mother in Florida.

Acting on that information, sheriff’s officials contacted Kaminskey’s mother to gain information on Kaminskey’s whereabouts.

But when Kaminskey’s mother was contacted, she confirmed the meth charges against her daughter but stated Kaminskey was not staying with her.

With that information on hand, officials again ran the registration of the vehicle, which led them back to Jeremy and Jamiee Brown.

“At first, they lied to us and said Jeremy had had an affair with Heather and the baby was his,” said Chief Deputy Eddy Sizemore. “But the biological grandmother said Heather had gotten pregnant in Florida and came here when she was nine months pregnant.”

Sizemore added the child had been “well taken care of and seems to be healthy.” The Browns have three other children, all of whom were placed with relatives following the couple’s arrest on Thursday. The infant child born to Kaminskey was taken into custody by the Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children’s Protection and Permanency Division.

Jeremy and Jamiee Brown were held in the Laurel County Detention Center under a $2,500 cash bond. They are both scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Laurel District Court on Tuesday.

njohnson@sentinel-echo.com

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