Andrea Curry-Demus went to great lengths to convince her family she was about to give birth to a boy, her sister told a judge Friday.

The Wilkinsburg woman with a history of trying to steal babies staged phone calls from a fake obstetrician, passed out sonogram photos to relatives during a baby shower and pretended to be in labor for hours, Brooke Curry testified at her sister's preliminary hearing on homicide charges.

"I thought she was pregnant," Curry sobbed on the witness stand at Pittsburgh Municipal Court.

Police said Curry-Demus' feigned labor on the evening of July 15 came hours after she met Kia Johnson, 18, who was pregnant.

The next day, Curry-Demus called her sister to report she had just given birth. But police say the newborn brought to West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield belonged to Johnson, whose eviscerated body they found in Curry-Demus' Ella Street apartment.

Curry-Demus, 39, will stand trial on charges she kidnapped Johnson of McKeesport, bound her wrists and ankles with tape, suffocated her and cut the fetus from her womb.

"This was a rough day for us and it's just the beginning of this court process," said Eric Johnson, Kia Johnson's father. "We're all mourning. We miss my baby. But we have our grandchild and I praise God for that."

Curry, who lived across the hall from her older sister, told District Judge Scott Schricker that she, her mother and a friend spent hours with Curry-Demus in her apartment timing her contractions.

When Curry-Demus showed her sister the baby boy the morning of July 16, the newborn was covered in blood and the umbilical cord was attached, Curry testified. Curry said she removed fluids from the baby's mouth because he was "sort of sluggish."

She called 911 and paramedics took Curry-Demus to the hospital, where she refused to let doctors examine her. Curry-Demus' family thought she was pregnant with a baby boy and due July 6, Curry said.

Curry-Demus called her sister from the hospital and asked her to clean up blood in her apartment bathroom and tidy the nursery for the boy she had named Rayshawn. Curry said she did so.

Doctors later determined Curry-Demus could not have given birth and they called police. The baby was unharmed.

Curry-Demus called her sister again the next day and said she was being arrested. She asked Curry to show police the sister's apartment across the hall, instead of her own.

"I did what I was told," Curry testified. "I thought it was a little weird."

Detectives found Johnson's body July 18, behind the headboard of Curry-Demus' bed. Her hands and feet were bound with duct tape, and a wad of plastic wrap was stuffed in her mouth.

Investigators determined Johnson met Curry-Demus at the Allegheny County Jail on July 16. Curry-Demus was visiting her husband, and Johnson was visiting her boyfriend, the father of the child. Jail surveillance tapes show the two women talking and Curry-Demus gesturing for Johnson to follow her outside, detectives testified.

"Obviously, they struck up some kind of friendship, and Kia Johnson was lured back to that apartment where her baby was harvested," Assistant District Attorney Mark Tranquilli said.

Curry said a "Dr. Vasquez" called her mother's house months ago to tell Curry-Demus she was pregnant and the same doctor called the mother's home on July 15 to say plans to induce Curry-Demus' labor would be postponed because "her sugar was too high," Curry testified.

Curry-Demus miscarried a baby in June, authorities said. Tranquilli said he didn't know if Curry-Demus ever was under the care of a Dr. Vasquez, or if prosecutors have determined who made the phone calls.

Johnson's relatives, many of whom wore T-shirts with the message "Justice for Kia," sobbed throughout the hearing. Her mother had to be carried out of the courtroom several times.

Curry-Demus remains in the county jail. Her attorney has sought to have her declared mentally unfit to stand trial.

She faces charges of homicide, kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child, conspiracy and unlawful restraint.

Johnson's family says the baby, named Terrell Kian Barnes, lives with relatives. The baby's father, Terrell Barnes, remains in jail, as does Curry-Demus' husband.

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