A Granbury man has turned in his niece after she allegedly tried to sell him a baby.
Randall Bonneville and his girlfriend, Heather Wall, are being held in the Hood County jail on suspicion of attempting to sell Bonneville's month-and-a-half-old daughter. Court documents refer to the child as "Tess."
Don Ford said Wall contacted him out of the blue and asked him if he and his wife would adopt a little girl, saying she thought he was a good parent and would care for the infant.
Ford said he was concerned about his niece trying to raise Bonneville's child because she has a history with drugs and some of her own children have been legally taken.
He said Wall became more insistent that he take the child. Ford said she told him the baby's fate otherwise would be uncertain because she and Bonneville would abandon her at a fire station or give her away to someone out of state.
Ford said he told his niece that he would only consider a legal adoption. She and Bonneville told him it wouldn't be necessary and that he could have Tess and her blank birth certificate for $3,000, he said.
Ford contacted Texas Child Protective Services and was told that a parent legally could give away his or her child but that it was illegal to sell a child. He then called police, who recorded his conversations and text messages.
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Ford said the decision to turn in a loved one was difficult. But he called police after thinking about the child's biological mother -- who could be unaware of what was going on -- and about the child being abandoned, he said.
His decision to turn in his niece has caused a rift between himself, his mother and his brother, Ford said.
The baby has been reunited with her mother, and CPS is involved in the case.
Bonneville and Wall are currently being held without bond.
