Police Discover Kidnapped Woman Chained to Floor_vmdt

Police Discover Kidnapped Woman Chained to Floor

They say there’s some ladies chained in the basement. No, I’m not actually. Yes, there actually is a woman chained up in a house. Officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department in Kentucky are dispatched to a neighborhood after a 911 caller reports a woman chained at the neck yelling for help from a broken window of a house.
As officers arrive at the location, they have no idea how fateful their [music] actions would soon be as the full story plays out on their body cams. Did you kick the door down? Yeah. I got a bunch of wood. Yeah, it’s I hear a woman in Um, this side back. That was smart. Which window did she kick out? Huh? Which window did she kick out? >> There’s no window that she kicked out.
Hang on one second. Which window is she at? Where? Second window. You got it? Yeah, I heard her right there. 213 Baker to beat. To radio the advise, we do see a female chained up at the top window. We’re trying to make entry, but there’s something barricading the door. Yeah, this is wood. This board is there, too.
He’s boarded up everything. Everything is boarded up. Hold the back and I Oh, you want to hold the back or the front? >> I’ll hold the front. Yeah, fire’s on the way. There’s a ladder on the side. There should be a ladder on the side. There you go. You want to get up there? All right, we’ll climb through that window.
They nailed everything shut. But we got this though. Try to kick the door in, but everything is boarded up. You want to go first? Like this. Is there anybody else in there? He did what? Is he Hispanic? Hey, there’s a Hispanic male down the street with his friend. That might be who it is. He’s got long hair.
Long on the top and on the sides. Where’s the kid now? I know he’s got little skinny legs. But there’s no one else in here, right? No, you can check. There’s no one. So there’s just you in here? Male or female? All right, we got fire coming, so give us a second, okay? No, you’re good. And you told me you did the right thing.
So is he a clean-cut Hispanic male? Yes, yeah, he’s He’s down the street. He’s got long hair. He’s kind of big. All right, they’re ready. Huh? Yeah, let’s clear real quick. Make sure. Hold it on her neck so I don’t break it. And we go. I’m on front.
Does he have any firearms? No, I don’t I don’t think so. Can you get out? Yeah, yeah, [laughter] I don’t have a key to get out. 10-4, we’re clear. 213 back, we got him in chain. We’re going to try to come out through the front. Nobody’s in the basement, right? No,
nobody’s in there. 3 back, are you on the other side of the front door? 10-4. This room is locked. He won’t ever let me in there. Hey, I got fire out here. 10-4, it looks like they got the front door and all the doors out here nailed shut. You’re fine, we’re here now, okay? We’re going to We’re going to get you out of here.
Don’t Don’t say sorry for nothing. You need fire to force this door? 10-4, we’re clear of it. You can go ahead and force it. You bust that door. All right, let’s go in here real quick, okay? That’s fire, they’re forcing the door open for us. He called me on the phone. He’s like, “I can see this lady. She’s chained up.
” And I was like, “I’ll be right there.” What’s the matter with her? Come on now. Hey, did you all clear the house? Yeah, we cleared it. The only thing locked still is the basement door right here. She said nobody else is in here. And the last door right there, he keeps locking Yeah, I had to turn the light off.
Hey, Randy, grab the bolt cutters there. Who did this? He locked me first. Are you hurt? Do you need EMS or anything? >> No, I just want to get out of here. Okay. You want to sit out here on the porch? Please. Okay. You can go ahead and do a blockade so nobody’s taking videos over here. Just block this area for about a year.
I don’t want anybody to see her. How long How long you had that on around your neck? That’s what 3 hours maybe. 5 We had our little woody the one year old daughter together. Where is she at? My aunt has custody of her. >> Okay. And this place always fighting with me cuz they wouldn’t let me go home to his house. He said, “You’re not going nowhere with this child.
” And he said, “You’re going to do it nicely or we’re going to do it the hard way.” When he left, I tried to get it off of my wrist. I got so dizzy. I fell to the window. I broke the window and yelled at the neighbors. Is her arm really still really bad? Someone go right there. I’d be easier to cut the link on the chain. What kind of car does he drive? He had a little car he would put this frame I don’t know they picked me up in the back of his takes something back to the lowe’s and What’s his name? Moses.
Moses? Last name May. He’s a stocky guy. He’s only got He’s got two tattoos of daughter and son’s name on his chin and a scorpion right here on this arm. And he’s got hair like down to his shoulders and stuff. How long you all been together? >> We’ve been together for three four years. You all have kids together? We have one daughter.
You said you don’t need EMS? No, I don’t need EMS but Yeah. Not not you’re not safe or nothing. And you all cleared the house? Good. I mean we can go back again to double check. I’m not >> Yeah, let’s let’s run another search just make sure. Is there dead ones around? >> No, but they’re dead. >> Cuz there’s like some death smelling over here.
>> I told him to take care of them and there’s already three missing. I don’t know if he killed them or what. I got straight forward. Police. I’m wondering why all these are nailed shut. Yeah, a lot of These doors are nailed shut. We really can’t do nothing with them. Do you have a gun or anything? Any kind of weapon? >> a knife.
A knife? Yeah, he killed these cats. He attacked us with a machete. He cut my hair with a machete. I think When did he do that? The three nights ago. That’s why I left. Even the first night it was all the way down here. Should I take a picture of the floor? Yeah, on the floor or whatever. Yeah, it shows where she Yeah, that’s the chain right there.
All right, that’s where it was connected to. Did she rip herself off of it or did he No, we had to cut it with this axe. Axe. I guess that’s the window she broke out of. Yeah. You have to hurry. It makes you wonder like downstairs though. Hopefully no one else is in here. Did you want a water? Water, please. Yeah, I’ll be right back, okay.
So, the only rooms we couldn’t clear is he has a room upstairs with the door nailed shut. He’s got a basement door nailed shut, and he’s got a back room door nailed shut, also. Do you know why he had all these rooms nailed shut? Uh no tattoos on his face, but he’s got one. Uh it’s a scorpion right here. Yes, she’s doing okay.
We’re going to leave everything like it is. It’s a crime scene right now, so >> Why are you leaving it a crime scene? But do you live here? No, I live at the corner. No, she’s She’s staying with me. She stayed with me last night. She’s fine. Do you know what the man looks like? >> Mexican. Long hair? >> Long hair.
Is it clean-cut, or is it long? I really don’t look at him too often, cuz I think he’s ugly. >> [laughter] >> Be careful, cuz he’s got a brand new machete. He always carries a machete, but I don’t know if it’s here. Did he hit you or anything? Is he Oh, yeah. Yes, he slapped me in my face. And you’ve been here for, you said, a 30 years. Yeah, but you said you left.
>> Yeah, I left a couple days ago, and he cut my hair off. When did you come back? I come back, because I seen him riding his bike and Today? You came back today? >> Yeah, I seen him riding his bike, and he stopped me, and he was like, “Wait, please, let’s go clean up the rooms, and I’ll pay you.
” I was like, “Okay, but I don’t want to fight.” He was like, “I promise I’m not going to hurt you.” I said, “Okay.” As soon as I came in, he smacked me, he locked the door with the keys, and I knew As soon as he locked the door with the keys, he wouldn’t let me go. Okay. This second-story window right here. Okay, so it was open, and she was just >> Yeah, she she was able to get close enough to the window and push the glass out.
And she was hollering for help, and this lady, I think, that’s getting out of this Kia. Yeah, actually, the little girl heard her hollering. And she’s like, “Granny, that lady’s yelling for help. She got a chain around her neck.” She’s actually the one that called 911. I guess they live there. Yeah, they live right there.
But I got her name and phone number. After 2 days of round-the-clock covert surveillance, detectives radioed to patrol officers that the suspect has returned to the house. That’s when patrol officers pull up to the location and find a red truck with two men inside with one of them matching the description of the suspect.
That’s first. What’s your location? Did you get my location? Yeah. Stop. Look without fear, man. Grab him. Grab the other guy, too. Hey, put your hands on top of your head. Wait, wait, put your hands on top of your head, boss. All right, stand by. What what are y’all doing? You’re just being detained right now.
Detained for what? You’re just being detained, all right? Got a nervous what? Any weapons on you, boss? No. All right, that’s fine, man. Just hang out, all right? Okay. Sit. Lean back. Was it you I talked to today, sir? Was it me that you talked to? I’m going to say no. Is that okay? He gave me his card and I go on the ferry.
My talk to my attorney to turn himself in. Now you call and my talk to I need I need plan promise to go Monday to turn himself in. So what what is all this harassment for? It’s not harassment. What’s the call doing right now? You’re being detained right now and as soon as this is all figured out, if you’re not in any kind of trouble, the handcuffs will be taken off. You’re not being harassed.
Okay, but that’s not nice. I don’t like it. Sit down, please. Okay, hold on. All right, who is that? Who is that? The girl that called me. Okay, okay. Hey Jonah, how are you? Is this Jonah? You’re not on speaker, baby. So you got to hold it. Jonah, can you describe the suspect for me real quick? All right, is he Hispanic? >> Yeah, that’s him.
That’s the suspect? >> That’s him. I know him. That’s him. All right, we’ll give you a call here shortly, Jonah. That’s him. All right, boss. What’s your last name? My last name is Moses. First name is Moses? >> Moses. Spell that. M O E S M O E S E S? Mhm. No. For a eye, I mean. So you and your girlfriend are living here? >> No, no, I did You can get Your girlfriend in there? No, but she did the the drama thing.
Oh, extremely. You like her cheating people, but that was not a lie. Really happened. Just because she not give what she want for money. This is So you’re saying that you’re saying that what she’s telling the police Yeah, it’s not Yeah, it’s drama. Yeah. That’s not what really happened. Hey, what are you doing with this dude? All right.
You good? You good? All right. You have to train me up on that, though. Appreciate it. The fact that the academy for this guy upside down. We just started heading over here to see if we can find him and get him out of there. Wow. That That’s the window That’s the window that she broke out.
I don’t think it was just her neck. I think I think he had her like a chain around her neck and a chain on the ground. Like a like a like a fighting dog, almost. The suspect was identified as 36-year-old Moises May. After obtaining a search warrant, officers were able to fully clear the house and confirm there were no other human victims inside.
However, while clearing the house, police noticed that the entire house was essentially a makeshift confinement [music] area. There was a significant amount of work that was done to the entire house, including barricaded doors that were screwed in, boarded up and bolted windows, and a front door that used a double cylinder deadbolt, meaning it required a key from both sides.
And it was later confirmed that Moises had the one and only key. The chain used on the victim was also attached to the floor with heavy-duty hardware, rather than just wrapped around something. These details suggest that there was some planning involved to the incident, which is important in determining premeditation.
After his arrest, Moises told police that the victim, Johna, actually chained herself up because she couldn’t stop cheating on him. Johna told police that Moises threatened to kill her if she left him or went to police, and that he continuously threatened and assaulted her to keep control over her. An interview right after Johna was rescued shows her immediate response to the situation.
>> He made me strip naked and he put a chain around my neck. And he called his friend and said, “I got to go take this equipment back to Lowe’s. When I come back, I’m going to kill you.” It’s hard when they You know knows and you don’t. I just want to see him get in jail or whatever. >> [snorts] >> I want justice.
I want I want my daughter to be okay. Moises [snorts] was initially charged with felony kidnapping, felony intimidating a participant in the legal process, felony [music] first-degree wanton endangerment, assault, terroristic threatening, and harassment with physical contact. He would later have extremely serious charges added, however, as Johna went on to tell investigators that Moises forced and coerced her to engage in commercial sex acts with other men.
She said he [music] arranged five of these encounters in exchange for money. This new information combined with the high likelihood of premeditation due to the house being rigged up as a makeshift confinement area led to prosecutors additionally charging Moises with five counts of felony human trafficking. This case eventually went to a jury trial in Jefferson County, Kentucky, which prosecutors said was the county’s first ever human trafficking case to go to a jury [music] trial.
Theoretically, the maximum sentence Moises could be given based on all of his charges is 75 years in prison. However, after deliberation, the jury found Moises guilty on all charges and recommended the judge sentence him to 35 years in prison for his actions. The judge later sentenced Moises to 30 years in prison with the eligibility for parole after serving 20% of his sentence, which is 6 years.
In past years, Kentucky law used to require a person convicted of a class B felony to serve at least 85% of their imposed sentence before being eligible for parole, meaning Moises’ kidnapping charge, which is a class B felony, would normally enact this 85% rule. However, this statute was recently revised in 2024.
Now, a class B felony must involve the death or serious physical injury to the victim. Because Johna was found alive with no serious physical injury, it allowed Moises to be eligible for parole after serving just 20% of his imposed sentence. Moises will be 44 years old when he is eligible for parole in 2031.