Three Plead Guilty to Kidnapping Two Women Lured by Fake Babysitting Job

WASHINGTON — Cierra Charity Lee, 20, and Kayvon Edwards, 21, both District of Columbia residents, pleaded guilty on April 30, 2026, in U.S. District Court to kidnapping and armed robbery charges stemming from an October 20, 2025, incident in Southeast Washington.

Their co-defendant, Robynn Danielle Bynum, 18, of Fort Washington, Maryland, entered her guilty plea to the same counts on April 16, 2026, per the U.S. Department of Justice press release.

The crimes affected two female victims who responded to a deceptive babysitting job posting. The defendants lured the women to a location in Southeast Washington, where they kidnapped them at gunpoint and robbed them violently, according to details in the Justice Department summary.

No broader population or program impacts appear in the source materials, which focus on this isolated incident involving the three defendants and two victims.

Before the pleas, the defendants faced open charges following their arrests related to the October 2025 events. The guilty pleas mark a new phase, with the case now proceeding to sentencing hearings in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The changes took effect immediately upon entry of the pleas on April 16 and April 30, 2026.

The pleas initiate mandatory sentencing procedures under federal guidelines for kidnapping and armed robbery offenses. Prosecutors will submit sentencing recommendations, and the court must schedule hearings to determine penalties, which could include imprisonment terms based on statutory minimums for such violent crimes.

The resolutions also close the investigative phase, allowing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia to allocate resources to other cases.

The U.S. Department of Justice has handled multiple violent crime prosecutions in the District of Columbia this year, with this case following indictments in similar armed robbery incidents documented in prior press releases from the same office. The original charges arose from an FBI investigation initiated after the October 2025 kidnappings.