One of two men facing child endangerment and drug-related charges has waived a jury trial. A bench warrant has been issued for the other who failed to appear for 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 faces is unlawful possession of marijuana.
During the felony disposition docket May 16 before District Judge Traci Soderstrom, Barrett waived a jury trial. Judge Soderstrom received the waiver and set the cause for July 18 for a plea.
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.
He is wanted on a $25,000 bench warrant after he failed to show up in March as ordered.
The two were arrested in a parking lot of a store at U.S. 177 and U.S. 62.
During his arraignment on Feb. 21, Barrett pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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.