Abduction suspect appears in court
Delvin Barnes
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeanine Linehan walks from the U.S. Courthouse after a hearing, Wednesday in Philadelphia for Delvin Barnes who is accused of abducting a Philadelphia woman and a Virginia teen.
PHILADELPHIA – A man accused of abducting a Philadelphia woman and a Virginia teen appeared in court Wednesday on federal kidnapping charges and was appointed a public defender.
Delvin Barnes, 37, is scheduled to return to federal court in Philadelphia on Friday for a bail hearing.
Barnes, of Charles City County, Va., was in custody since his capture last week. Police searching for the 22-year-old woman abducted near a Philadelphia bus stop found Barnes and the woman in his car in Jessup, Md., three days later.
Barnes said in court documents he had a job, but still qualified for a public defender. Nina Spizer, his appointed public defender, said she doesn’t know when she will have a chance to meet with him.
Prosecutors declined to comment Wednesday. Barnes did not enter a plea.
Federal prosecutors will try Barnes in the Philadelphia case before he’s turned over to Virginia authorities.
He is charged with attempted murder in the abduction of the Richmond teen in early October.
Barnes allegedly hit the girl in the head with a shovel, stuffed her in a trunk and took her to a mobile home, where he doused her in bleach and gasoline before she escaped. Police say she broke free as he was digging her grave.
Police in Virginia said they have interviewed him at length about the case. They said he did not ask for a lawyer.
The Philadelphia victim, Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, had gotten off a bus when she was grabbed off the street. A witness said she kicked out the rear window as she fought with her attacker.
Federal investigators used a GPS device placed in Barnes’ car by a used car dealer to help locate the vehicle and rescue Freeland-Gaither.
Barnes was released from prison a year ago after serving eight years for choking his estranged wife and assaulting her parents in Philadelphia.