Friend of Alleged Kidnapper: She’s Not the Only One

Two days since a woman was charged in the abduction and rape of a young girl, a longtime friend of the suspect spoke exclusively to NBC10.

The woman, who did not want to be identified, told NBC10’s Monique Braxton that she has known Christina Regusters, 19, for a decade and considers her a “sister.” Regusters was arrested on Thursday for the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl. The friend told NBC10 she is absolutely shocked by the charges against her.

“I just don’t see her targeting a little girl,” said the friend. “There are plenty of pretty little girls that she’s been around. Nothing happened to them.”

Investigators say Regusters worked at the daycare center the abducted girl attended after school and that she had contact with the victim prior to the abduction. Regusters’ friend says she was excited about working there.

“Do you think she was obsessed with the little girl?” asked Braxton.

“No,” replied Regusters’ friend. “I’ve never heard her talk about this little girl. She talks about all the children there.”

While police believe Regusters is the same woman seen on surveillance video dressed in Muslim garb taking the girl from the school, her friend claims Regusters isn’t a practicing Muslim.

“Do you think it’s a disguise?” Braxton asked.

“Pretty much,” said the friend. “She always wore her hair out in a pony tail. She never wore Muslim garb.”

Police believe the girl was held and assaulted at a home on Walton Avenue in Cobbs creek after her kidnapping. The friend says she remembers visiting Regusters at that very same home.

“Some things are out of your control,” said the friend. “There are people who influence things that happen around you. Maybe she was scared. I don’t feel like she’s the only one responsible.”