Vicksburg resident Roberta Bell is in a predicament, and it’s not just her life in her hands.

Earlier this year, the now-former guard at Louisiana Transition Center for Women in Tallulah was approached by friends of an inmate who asked her to assume temporary custody of the inmate’s unborn child. Three weeks ago, baby Kayson Bourgeis came home from the hospital with her.

Bell said she prayed about assuming custody of the infant before agreeing to be his guardian, but ultimately, this was a task bestowed upon her by God.

“I just listened to what God was telling me in my heart to do,” Bell said.

Kayson’s mother, Katie Bourgeis, is currently incarcerated in the LTCW on drug charges. Her fellow inmates are the ones who first approached Bell and asked if she would take the baby when he was born, as Katie did not want the child taken into the custody of Child Protective Services.

LTCW houses female inmates who are within a year of their release date.

Bell said she felt called to agree to the arrangement, not only to provide Kayson with a better start in life but also to help his mother get on the right path after her incarceration ends.

“I said (to Katie), ‘Baby you know you’re going to have to clean yourself up. You’re going to have to change your surroundings,'” Bell said. “I told her, ‘I’m a Christian woman. I don’t just say I’m a Christian woman. I walk the straight and narrow path of righteousness, and I expect that of you.'”

While Bell took steps, in the beginning, to notify her employer of the situation, she said her notices went without response. By the time Katie was in the hospital preparing to give birth, Bell said Katie’s cell was “tossed” by prison staff and all evidence of a relationship or agreement between her and Bell was confiscated.

It wasn’t long before prison administration called Bell in for a meeting, she said.

“The captain wanted to speak with me,” she said. “I already had my resignation letter typed up. But he said, ‘I have some information that something was given to an inmate with your personal information on it.’ And I said yes, that I gave her that information to give to the hospital.

“He said, ‘You know it’s a conflict of interest for you to get the baby,'” Bell added. “And I told him, ‘Major, there’s no way I can let that child go to CPS when I know she wants her child.’ … He asked if I was still going to go through with it, and I told him, ‘If the hospital called me to come get this baby, I’m going to get it.'”

She was terminated from her position on the spot.

While she is fully aware of the “conflict of interest” that arose when she agreed to be a part of Kayson’s life (as an authority figure over an inmate), Bell said she’s never felt more at peace with a decision.

She is currently unemployed and unsure of the next step, but one thing is certain: Baby Kayson is her top priority.

“Just like Abraham and Isaac going up the mountain in the Bible, I believe that God will provide,” she said. “I’m going to take care of Kayson up until that day his mom walks through the front door. I believe that my situation, God’s already worked it out.”

In the last week, a GoFundMe and an Amazon Baby registry have been published to benefit Bell and Kayson.

Phone calls to the LTCW in Tallulah were not returned.