Grandmother who left boy at Kohl’s store sentenced to 3 years in jail

A woman who pleaded guilty to abandoning her 5-year-old grandson at a west Wichita Kohl’s last summer was sentenced Thursday to nearly three years in jail.

Kathleen Williams, 42, appearing in person in a tan Sedgwick County Jail jumpsuit, received a 32-month sentence in connection with the shoplifting incident.

She pleaded guilty in January to a felony charge of theft after prior conviction and a misdemeanor charge of contributing to a child’s misconduct or deprivation.

Police have said Williams was caught shoplifting and fled from the Kohl’s store, leaving her grandson behind.

She committed the theft while on probation from two 2013 theft convictions, Judge David Kaufman said in court Thursday.

Standing at a podium before Kaufman, Williams gripped a tissue, saying she wanted to do “whatever it takes to get back to my family.”

Prosecutors asked for a 29-month sentence, and Williams’ lawyer requested a 20-month sentence.

Kaufman sentenced her to 11 months for the felony theft charge, 12 months for the misdemeanor charge, and 9 months for her probation violation. Those sentences are to run consecutively.

Her grandson was placed in foster care as a result of the incident, as his father was unreachable and his mother was undergoing drug treatment.

No other relative showed up in court to claim him during a hearing last year.

This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Grandmother who left boy at Kohl’s store sentenced to 3 years in jail."