Man charged with abducting Kentucky family at knifepoint for bank robbery was felon on early release

A Louisville mother and her children were abducted at knifepoint for a bank robbery by a felon who had been released early from prison.

Armond Langford, 32, allegedly broke into Jennifer Strong's house Friday morning with a knife, WDRB reported. 

Langford has been charged with five counts of robbery, one count of kidnapping an adult, two counts of kidnapping a minor, and one count of assault. He is being held on a $1 million bond and is due back in court on Aug. 19.

Langford allegedly demanded Strong, her 11-year-old son, and her 7-year-old son get into a car. Strong was in the driver’s seat with her older son beside her, and Langford sat in the back with her younger son.

Langford told Strong to drive to a nearby PNC Bank as he pressed a knife to her throat, according to reports.

“My oldest son, he had his arms around my neck, and he was begging the guy in the backseat not to kill me," Strong told the news outlet. "I asked him if I could reach around and hold my youngest son’s hand, and he said yes."

Being a true-crime enthusiast, Strong said she tried to gain Langford's trust by sharing personal information.

“I told the guy my oldest son was autistic, to please not hurt us, that my youngest son was very scared,” she said. “If this is gonna happen fighting him isn't the right way to do it – he has a knife, and I have nothing."

At the bank, Langford allegedly threatened the teller.

“I need $20,000, or I will kill her now,” Strong says Langford said.

Langford told the children to get out of the car.

“I yelled out to the car that I loved them, and I said a prayer and I grabbed my hand and I grabbed my chest and I said to myself this is it, this is what it feels like to die – I told the bank, 'he’s killing me now, he’s stabbing me again,' and then they came out,” Strong said.

After the bank tellers spread $20,000 on the ground, Langford grabbed the cash and fled.

Strong was taken to the hospital with stab wounds that came within centimeters of her lung, resulting in her needing stitches and surgery. She was released Friday and reunited with her family.

Langford was arrested later that afternoon near a Best Buy that was about a mile from the bank.

Police said that the children were not physically harmed but were traumatized by the ordeal.

Last year, Langford was sentenced to 14 years in prison for burglary and robbery charges, but a judge released him early on shock probation.

Strong's daughter, Genevieve, was also home during the abduction, but was asleep upstairs.