Teen Faced With Shoplifting Charge Repeatedly Lies About Her Name and Age, Deputy Reports

A Winder teen authorities eventually determined to be 17-years-old and her mother told Oconee County Sheriff's deputies the girl "could not be arrested" on a shoplifting charge because she was only 16, according to an incident report.

Deputies Nov. 30 were called to Wal-mart on Epps Bridge Parkway where a store security guard said he'd witnessed the mother-daughter duo try to steal more than $500 worth of merchandise.

When asked for her date of birth, a deputy says the teen, who initially identified herself as Lavera, paused before stating "02/01/1992." The deputy replied that that would make her 20.

According to the report, the teen paused again, then said her date of birth was actually "02/01/1994."  When the deputy pointed out that that would mean she was 18, he says the teen's mother jumped in and argued her daughter's name was actually "Kimberly" and that she was born on "02/01/1994." 

The teen also insisted she was really Kimberly and that she had given her sister's name at first because she was nervous, according to the report.

"When I again explained that the [date of birth] she gave me would make her 18-years-old, she again appeared to be counting in her head, and when she could not come up with an answer, she and [the mother] started crying uncontrollably and would no longer answer my questions," the deputy wrote.

Neither had forms of identification, he added.

A relative was called to pick up a small child and the deputy told the teen she would need to go to the jail until he could verify who she was.  He said the mother then claimed the teen was only 15 and threatened to sue the deputy, he said.

At the jail, the mother was placed in a holding cell and the teen was placed in a juvenile holding facility while the deputy contacted Winder Police.  He says the officers told him they were familiar with the women and advised "Kimberly" was probably "Lavera."

The deputy spoke again with the mother who this time reportedly told him Kimberly and Lavera were twins and that Kimberly was 18 but Lavera was not. The deputy again pointed out the inconsistency.

After the teen was informed she'd be booked under the name "Jane Doe" until she could provide an identification, the deputy says the teen finally admitted that her name was Lavera and that her birth date was 02/01/1995.

Lavera Irene Hammond-Jackson, and her mother, Stella Hammond-Jackson, 33, were each charged with felony theft by shoplifting. Additionally Lavera Hammond- Jackson was charged with giving a false name while her mother faces a charge of obstruction.