An Alabama woman who gave birth after spending a year and a half in jail on a capital murder charge had sex with a male inmate to intentionally get pregnant, authorities announced Wednesday.

The sheriff said Latoni Daniel hoped getting pregnant -- and claiming she was raped-- would help her get leniency in her capital murder case and allow her to bond out of jail.

Daniel, a 27-year-old Army National Guard veteran, was charged with capital murder in December 2017. Jailed without bail for 18 months, Daniel gave birth to a boy in May. One of her attorneys said at the time that she was raped, possibly while she was taking legally prescribed sedatives. The lawyer claimed Daniel had no memory of a sexual encounter.

Daniel’s civil attorney Mickey McDermott declined to comment following the press conference.

On Dec. 5, 2017, Daniel was charged with capital murder in the Coosa County robbery and fatal shooting of 87-year-old Thomas Virgil Chandler. Charged along with her now-former boyfriend, she was accused of being the getaway driver.

At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Coosa County Sheriff Michael Howell said after he took office in January, he was made aware of Daniel’s pregnancy.

Daniel had been held in the Coosa County Jail in Rockford, but was moved to the Talladega County Jail in December 2018 after guards and other inmates reported Daniel getting into jailhouse fights. The sheriff said Daniel was involved in severely injuring an elderly inmate during one of those altercations.

Just after her transfer, officials discovered Daniel was pregnant. Other inmates told investigators that Daniel had “conspired to become pregnant" by a male inmate who was working in the jail, Howell said. The sheriff said Daniel wanted to get pregnant in the hopes a judge would grant her leniency in her capital murder case and grant her a bond.

Allegations Daniel was raped by a jail employee were “completely untrue and fabricated,” Howell said.

Daniel gave birth to a healthy baby boy on May 29, Howell said, and tests confirmed the other inmates’ claims the male inmate worker was the baby’s father. The investigation into Daniel’s rape claim was conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation, but that investigation has since ended.

Joe Hickley, Coosa County Assistant District Attorney, also spoke at Wednesday’s press conference. He said people on social media had described Daniel as a rape victim before the investigation was closed, and also as a hero. “This is simply not true,” he said.

“This case has a victim and this case has a hero. And they happen to be the same person, Mr. Thomas Virgil Chandler,” Hickley said.

He described Chandler, a war veteran, as a lover of God and his family. Hickely said Chandler was on his way home from buying groceries for his family when he was brutally attacked, robbed, and murdered. Hickley called Chandler a “role model” and said he hopes the case will be tried later this year.

Daniel, an east-central Alabama native, previously served in the Army National Guard and was honorably discharged, according to family members and court documents. She does not have any prior felony convictions. Court records show Daniel was arrested on a theft charge in Alexander City in 2013, but a grand jury declined to indict her.

Coosa County assistant district attorney now speaking, saying they didn't release information before the SBI investigation closed because he wanted the case to be "tried in a court of law" and not in the court of public opinion. — Ivana Hrynkiw Shatara (@IvanaSuzette) July 3, 2019

In June, Daniel was transferred to the Shelby County Jail where she remains jailed without bond.

AL.com journalist Ashley Remkus contributed to this report.

This is a developing story and will be updated.