Woman says sister is innocent in crime connected to double homicide, kidnapping

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The sister of a Charlotte woman who was arrested after a harrowing chase involving a man suspected of killing his parents and kidnapping his niece said she was not involved in either of those crimes.

Nikkia Cooper is facing drug and kidnapping charges after police in Washington, D.C. found her in the car Sunday night with Curtis Atkinson, Jr. and his 11-year-old niece.

(Curtis Atkinson, Jr.)

Police said Atkinson killed his parents at their home in east Charlotte and left for Washington with Cooper and his niece.

[PAST ARTICLE: Sources: Kidnapped girl may have witnessed grandparents' murders]

"I was terrified for the both of them so I called the police,” Nika Dorsey said Tuesday afternoon.

She said her sister, Cooper, had called her several times from the car and told her that Atkinson had done something bad, but that they were on their way to Washington with her niece.

"And I'm, like, 'Oh my goodness, this is that little girl!' I'm, like, 'Nikkia, you have to get away from him!'
And every time she called, she could not get out of the vehicle," Dorsey said.

Her sister was finally able to call 911 and police caught up with Atkinson after he slammed into another car, she said.

The impact was enough to throw the little girl forward, and that when officers got to her, she was stuck between the seats, and said to them, “Help me,” according to court documents.

Cooper was hurt more seriously and was taken to a hospital, where doctors found she was carrying drugs.

Her sister said she believes Cooper was kidnapped herself, and that she could not have been involved in the killings.

"She finally told me what he had done, and from that point I'm, like, 'Oh my God, she has to be scared to death!'
And I could hear that she was terrified," Dorsey said.

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