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WEST JORDAN, Utah (AP) — A Utah man accused of trying to kidnap a young girl from her bedroom in an attempt thwarted by the child's father is weighing a plea deal, attorneys said Wednesday.
Troy Morley, 48, appeared briefly in court wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit with his hands shackled. He plans to talk to his parents about it an agreement offered by prosecutors, his lawyer Roger Kraft said.
Prosecutor Nathan Evershed declined to elaborate on the deal's terms.
Morley is accused of sneaking into a suburban Salt Lake City home through a door left ajar early Nov. 7, 2014, and taking the 5-year-old girl from her room.
He picked her up and tried to walk out the front door, but the sound woke her parents, prosecutors said. Stephanie and Aaron Edson were especially concerned when they heard her voice because their daughter has cerebral palsy and physical limitations that make it difficult for her to walk.
Aaron Edson followed Morley outside and calmly asked him to give the girl back.
Morley handed her over and left, saying he needed to go to a church and to call the FBI if anything happened to him. After his arrest a few blocks away, Morley rambled about drug cartels, the FBI and voices coming from a radio, police said.
Morley, who is being held on $2 million bail, had been scheduled to go to trial later this month on felony charges of child kidnapping, burglary and trespassing. He will instead appear in court Aug. 17 to decide whether to take the deal or set a new trial date, Kraft said.
The Edsons appeared in court Wednesday but declined to comment on the case.
Before the incident, Morley had stopped at a hotel in Sandy on his way back from Nevada because he was tired, prosecutors said. When he left, he started walking around the neighborhood where the girl lives with her parents.
His father, Gary Stokes, has said his son was slipped unidentified drugs at the hotel and didn't know what he was doing when authorities say he tried to take the child.
Kraft has said that Morley's mental health likely won't be an issue in the case.
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