Attempted kidnapper of little girl may plead insanity; victim's family livid

Family of girl nearly abducted at Sterling Heights park want justice

A fun day quickly came apart at Clinton River Park North last August. A 7-year-old girl was nearly abducted said the family, who fears the prosecutor will drop the ball.

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (FOX 2) - An attempted kidnapping took place at North Clinton River Park in Sterling Heights last year with the suspect scheduled to appear in court this week.

Now with the suspect due to appear in court, the family of the now-8-year-old girl are concerned the Macomb County prosecutor will drop the ball.

The backstory:

The incident happened Aug. 13, 2024 leading to the arrest of Endi Bala, 23, who is expected to plead insanity.

Alecia, the aunt of the girl, described the random attack.

"When he picked her up off her bike, he grabbed her and put her in the passenger seat," she said, adding a good Samaritan stepped in to interfere with Bala.

"Within just a second of the guy pulling in to T-bone him that’s when he decided to let go of her," Alecia said. "He punched me, I fell to the ground, and she was able to make a (run) for it."

FOX 2: "And your son was hurt too?"

"That’s when I saw my son was ran over," she said. "He was bleeding, screaming."

The little girl’s mother, Coryne, who is Alecia’s sister-in-law, still can't believe what happened to her daughter.

"Deep down we know she will never be the same," Coryne said.

Prior to this incident police say Bala also attempted to unlawfully imprison a 15-year-old girl who was walking along Clinton River Road earlier that day.

Now the family is fighting for justice because the state found Bala not culpable during the attempted abduction at the park.

"You want to talk about mental illness, this is making the rest of the world ... look at these kids, they were innocent," Alecia said.

Bala is set to appear in court Wednesday.

Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido spoke about the case.

"We’re going to see whether or not the court will accept the plea of guilty by reason of insanity or not guilty by reason of insanity," he said. "But I have an absolute duty as the prosecutor of this county, to maintain honesty and integrity and fundamental fairness."

But the girl's family isn't buying it.

"This case is a no-brainer," said Coryne. "Everyone knows what needs to be done."