Verna McClain is a former Texas licensed vocational nurse who shot and killed 28-year-old Kala Marie Golden-Schuchardt outside a Spring, Texas, pediatric clinic on April 17, 2012, and abducted the victim’s three-day-old son. She pleaded guilty to capital murder in November 2013 and is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.1Houston Chronicle. Nurse in Child Abduction Slaying Agrees to Life
What Happened Outside the Pediatric Clinic
Kala Golden-Schuchardt had just brought her newborn, Keegan Schuchardt, to the Northwoods Pediatric Center for his first checkup. She was the mother of three boys, including four-year-old Kamden and two-year-old Keaton.2Houston Chronicle. Slain Mom Remembered as Loving Parent
As Golden placed her baby in her pickup truck, McClain, who had parked a light blue Lexus beside her, confronted her. Witnesses heard arguing, then as many as seven gunshots.3Deseret News. Mother Shot Dead, Newborn Taken Near Houston McClain shot Golden repeatedly in the chest, grabbed the infant, and drove off. Mortally wounded, Golden tried to reach into the Lexus for her son, screaming “My baby!” as McClain pulled away, striking her in the process.4Global News. Nurse Charged With Capital Murder Golden was taken to Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital, where she died.5Houston Chronicle. Portrait of Murder Suspect: She Wanted a Baby
Witnesses described the Lexus, and deputies tracked it to an apartment complex. McClain approached the officers posing as a helpful witness, but her account unraveled and she confessed.6NBC News. Deputies: Texas Mother’s Shooter Snatched Baby to Hide Miscarriage7ABC News. Nurse Kidnapped Baby Keegan8CBS News. Swiped Texas Newborn Found Alive After Mom Shot Dead Deputies also recovered a semi-automatic handgun at the apartment.9Houston Chronicle. Accused Killer’s Accounts to Officers Varied Keegan was returned to his family.
Why She Did It
McClain, then 30, was a licensed vocational nurse and mother of three children from a previous relationship. She had told her fiancé she was pregnant with his child, but she had actually miscarried. With a May wedding approaching, she set out to find a baby she could pass off as their newborn.10NBC DFW. Nurse Accused in Baby Abduction Had Miscarried
Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon called the shooting an “intentional act” and part of a “wider plan to kidnap any child.” Golden was not specifically targeted; according to Ligon, she was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”11CBS News. Texas Nurse Verna McClain Admits Shooting Kala Marie Golden After taking the infant, McClain told her sister she “now had the child and would be needing to do the adoption.”5Houston Chronicle. Portrait of Murder Suspect: She Wanted a Baby Authorities concluded McClain acted alone. Her fiancé was interviewed but was not believed to have seen the abducted baby, and no charges were filed against him or Jackson.6NBC News. Deputies: Texas Mother’s Shooter Snatched Baby to Hide Miscarriage
How the Case Ended
McClain was charged with capital murder. In October 2012, Ligon announced that prosecutors would seek the death penalty.126ABC. State Will Seek Death Penalty Against Verna McClain Her later attorneys, George Parnham and Tyrone Moncriffe, did not pursue an insanity defense, saying they found “no evidence of insanity and no history of mental illness.”13Your Conroe News. Verna McClain Pleads to Killing Mom, Taking Baby
On November 19, 2013, McClain pleaded guilty to capital murder before state District Judge Kelly Case in Montgomery County. Prosecutors dropped the pursuit of the death penalty, and she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.1Houston Chronicle. Nurse in Child Abduction Slaying Agrees to Life Ligon said the deal was meant to give Golden’s family certainty and spare them years of appeals, honoring a promise that McClain would “die in prison, either by lethal injection or by never being free again.” He called McClain a “common criminal.”13Your Conroe News. Verna McClain Pleads to Killing Mom, Taking Baby
Where Things Stand Now
At the sentencing, Linda Golden, Kala’s mother, said she was “pleased” that McClain would never be released but would “never be over the pain of losing my daughter.” She said Kala’s two older sons, then three and six, “still cry out for their mother and ask when she is coming home,” adding, “I would say she got justice and that I’m watching over her babies the best I can.”14ABC 7 Chicago. Verna McClain Pleads Guilty in Baby Abduction Slaying
McClain remains incarcerated under her life-without-parole sentence. No appeals have been publicly reported in her case.