A lawyer in Oklahoma is accused of trying to get a 2-year-old child to leave day care. She later told police she was “sent by God to be with the children.”
Jail records show that Tracy Zahl, 49, is charged with kidnapping. A probable cause arrest document says the event happened on July 23 at the Westminster Presbyterian Church Child Care Center. The statement says Zahl walked in through a door that wasn’t locked and went downstairs to a classroom.
Zahl is said to have gone up to a 2-year-old girl and tried to take her, telling the girl to “come out of the classroom and follow her.” According to the statement, a teacher saw what was going on and took the child from Zahl. She then told Zahl to leave and called the director to tell him what was going on. While Zahl was still walking around the church, he saw a line of kids walking. Zahl joined the line and told the teacher she was “going with them” when she was questioned. The teacher let Zahl follow the kids to a classroom because she thought she might be a volunteer. There, the report says, she “proceeded to sit at a table with multiple children” until another staff member approached her.
She is said to have said that she was “sent by God to be with the children” before she was told again to leave the land. This time, she left, and a worker wrote down some of Zahl’s license plate and gave it to the police. Police used license plate readers to find Zahl at her home, which is less than a mile from the church. Reports say she admitted she was wrong and said she had no business being at the day care since she doesn’t have a kid or grandchild who goes there.
Zahl was caught by police and taken to the Oklahoma County Jail, where she is being held on a $30,000 bond. The court records don’t show an attorney for her.
It was said that Zahl had been punished by the Oklahoma Bar Association before for faking a prescription. A coworker said she was going to kill her, so she was caught in 2021.
