By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore woman, once a singer in her high school’s choir, was arrested December 7 after an investigation by city police confirmed allegations that her newborn child displayed signs of methamphetamine addiction when it was born not quite two months ago.
Sheyanne Maeleigh Wooley, 22, remained in the Escambia County Detention Center early Tuesday, December 13, under a $10,000 bond. She is charged with one count of chemical endangerment of a child.
According to a press release issued by Atmore Police Department Sgt. Darrell McMann, a case worker with the Escambia County Department of Human Resources contacted APD investigators on October 20 in reference to the situation.
Earlier in October, a representative of North Baldwin Infirmary in Bay Minette had contacted the local DHR office to report that Wooley had given birth to her baby at the hospital and that both she and the baby tested positive for methamphetamine.
The hospital’s report included that the baby was suffering from withdrawals and had to be transferred to another facility for treatment.
The Baldwin County District Attorney’s Office issued subpoenas allowing APD investigators to obtain medical records from both hospitals, and an arrest warrant was issued when those records were received and examined.
Comments by family members indicate that the infant has been placed in the care of its grandmother and that Wooley also had another, older child who was also removed by authorities from the home she shared with her former husband. The grandmother also has custody of that child.
“Both are with their grandmother,” a relative wrote in the comments section of the Atmore News post on the arrest. “They are loved and well taken care of.”