Tennessee Kidnapping Suspect Remains in Custody

October 8, 2009 by Cathy Ribble
Filed under: News

Photo provided by the Nashville Police Department shows Yair Anthony Carillo of Nashville, Tenn.

Tammy Renee Silas, 39, will remain in federal custody according to a court ruling yesterday in the kidnapping case involving 4-day-old Yahir Anthony Carillo in Nashville.

Police found Silas with the baby three days later at her home in Ardmore, Alabama, a mere 80 miles from the site of the vicious attack on the baby’s mother.

The baby was then reunited with his parents briefly, but was taken from them again by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. The baby and his three siblings were placed into foster care when the DCS became concerned that the parents were trying to sell the baby. DCS is not revealing those safety concerns at this time. Maris Gurrola is reported to have started crying and shaking uncontrollably when she was told the children would be taken into state custody. She described that pain as a greater pain than being physically stabbed by her attacker.

Police determined that Marie Gurrola and the baby’s father, Jose Carillo, were not involved in the crime, and the baby was reunited with his parents for the second time on Tuesday. Family members report that the children are happy to be back with their mother and father.

Silas is represented by attorney Isaiah Grant who described his client as a “rather docile person” who did not want to make a public statement. “My sense is she’s very concerned about the charge,” Grant said. Prosecutor Phil Wehby declined to comment.

Investigators are trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together as they learn new details about Silas. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reports that Silas has used other names, such as Tammy Hernandez, and that more than one Social Security number has been linked to her. Police records from California reflect a drug possession charge from 1989, a check forgery conviction in Ohio in 2002. There is also a 2004 arrest in Nashville on a probation violation charge from the forgery case.

Silas has not been charged in the knife attack that left Maria Gurrola with multiple stab wounds and a collapsed lung. According to Kristin Helm, spokesperson for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, no state charges are imminent in the attack or the kidnapping. U.S. Magistrate John S. Bryant ordered Silas held until a bond hearing which was set for October 27.

The defense attorney has requested an interpreter for the case and informed the court that Silas needs an interpreter to fully understand the legal complexities even though she is reportedly bilingual.

A police sketch circulated after the attack described the attacker as a blonde white female who could speak Spanish. Silas appeared in court with reddish brown hair pulled back into a bun. A California warrant for Silas on a minor drug charge described her as brunette. Investigators think she may have changed her appearance recently.

Gurrola has told investigators that after she was stabbed, her attacked made a phone call. The attacker said in Spanish “the job is done” and that the mother was dying. Rodriguez says he met Silas when they both lived in Nashville, but she was born in Tarrant County, Texas, where she has family.