Roberta Bell was working as a correctional officer when she agreed to care for an inmate's newborn.
A Mississippi woman says was fired from her job as a correctional officer because she became the caretaker of a baby boy born to an inmate who wanted to make sure she didn't "lose him to the system."
Roberta Bell was a corrections officer at the Louisiana Transitional Center for Women (LTCW) for over three years when she agreed to take care of an infant born to a woman who was incarcerated at the maximum-security prison, Bell's daughter wrote on GoFundMe.
“She was trying to find somebody that would help keep her baby until she finished her term,” Bell told WLBT.
While incarcerated at LTCW, Katie Bourgeois spent the months before she gave birth looking for someone to take care of her child, WLBT reported.
“She was very concerned about Child Protection Services getting the baby and her not knowing where the baby was since she had such a short term to serve,” Bell told WLBT.
Before agreeing to take on the role of the caretaker, Bell said she contacted her employer about the arrangement.
She said she reached out to her employer to confirm there were no issues with her assuming care of the baby several weeks before Bourgeois was expected to have the child, but that she didn't hear back from her employer until right before Bourgeois was set to go into labor, WLBT reported.
“I said... 'If the hospital calls me to come get this baby, I’m going to get him.’ [Her employer] said, ‘Well, I’m gonna have to terminate you,’” said Bell.
By the time she heard back, she had already exchanged personal information with Bourgeois, which was why her employer fired her from her role as a corrections officer, Bell told WLBT.
On May 17, days after she was fired, Bell began caring for the newborn. She plans to continue caring for the baby boy, named Kayson, until his mother is released in July, WLBT reported.
To date, the GoFundMe campaign created by Bell's daughter to help support the baby has raised about $11,000.
“Good morning I would like to thank each [and] everyone that sent their love out to me and baby Kayson," Bell wrote in a Facebook post. "Your gifts, your encouraging words has been very much appreciated."
The Louisiana Transitional Center for Women declined Inside Edition Digital's request for comment.
