One of two men facing child endangerment and drug-related charges has been ordered to stand trial and the other is awaiting his pre-preliminary hearing.
Blake Michael Barrett, 21, of Seminole, was formally charged in Lincoln County District Court on Sep. 13, 2022 with two felonies and a misdemeanor.
Barrett is accused of child endangerment by driving under the influence and possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Dangerous Substance with the intent to distribute.
The misdemeanor Barrett is unlawful possession of marijuana.
Charged with felony child endangerment was Khalil Steele, 23, no address listed. He was also charged with felony possession of a Schedule IV CDS with the intent to distribute.
The two were arrested in the parking lot of a store at U.S. 177 and U.S. 62.
On Dec. 15, Barrett waived his preliminary hearing. Special Judge Emily Mueller scheduled his arraignment for Feb. 21, this year.
During his arraignment on Feb. 21, Barrett pleaded not guilty to the charges. District Judge Traci Soderstrom set the cause for the felony disposition docket on May 16, the jury trial call docket on June 2 and a jury trial on June 5.
Steele made his initial appearance on Sep. 29 before Judge Mueller. She also set his bond at $4,000.
The judge scheduled Steele’s pre-preliminary hearing for 1:30 p.m. Nov. 17 and also moved it until Dec. 15.
That hearing was then continued until Jan. 19, 202, was subsequently moved to Feb. 3, and then to Feb. 10. It’s now scheduled for 1:30 p.m. March 2.
In Count 1, Barrett is charged on Sep. 10 this year with driving a Saturn Auto car on U.S. 177 and on other public roads and highways in Lincoln County when he was under the influence of an intoxicating substance while transporting in the car a one-year-old child, the initials which are LS.
He was also charged on the same day at Lawson’s Store located at that location of possessing more than 40 tablets containing Alprazolam, also known as Xanax, a Schedule IV CDS, with the intent to distribute the substance while acting in concert with Steele.
The misdemeanor charges him with unlawful possession of marijuana while at the store.
Steele is accused in Count 1 on Sep. 10 of knowingly permitting his one-year-old child, LS, to be present in the Saturn car on U.S. 177 and other roads and highways in Lincoln County when he knew or should have known that Barrett, the driver of the car, was impaired by or was under the influence of an intoxicating substance.
Count 2 charges him with possessing more than 40 tablets containing Alprazolam, also known as Xanax, a Schedule IV CDS, with the intent to distribute the substance while acting in concert with Barrett.
In a probable cause affidavit, Deputy Sheriff Gage Elder states he was dispatched to a call of a reckless driver at 337075 U.S. 62, Meeker. The reporting party had notified the dispatcher that there was a baby in the car and when the two occupants got out of the car at the store, they couldn’t walk straight and were stumbling around.
Elder reported that Deputies Steven Hinkle and Shawn Stewart started toward the scene and that Hinkle told Meeker Police Officers Raymond Mackin and Marshall Jones to begin heading that way since they were closer than any of the deputies en route.
As the investigation unfolded, both Barrett and Steele were transported to the Lincoln County Jail in Chandler and the Department of Human Services was notified. The DHS came and picked up the child and since she had fallen off the counter at the store, she needed to be taken to the hospital for evaluation.
According to the report, Deputy Stewart accompanied the DHS worker to the hospital.