Mother Brought 5-Month-Old to Meth Lab: Police

An Easton woman has been charged with endangering the welfare of her baby daughter because the two of them spent time at a Bethlehem Township property that housed a methamphetamine lab, court records say.

At times, the woman apparently left the baby alone while she smoked meth, the records say.

The charge against Betty Jane Stonewall, 29, of 378 W. Nesquehoning St. on the Easton's South Side is tied to an early-morning raid at 1450 Sixth St. in the township on Sept. 25. Three other people have been charged in the case.

Stonewall and her daughter were at the property at the time of the 6 a.m. raid carried out by township police and state police's Clandestine Laboratory Team.

At the time of the raid, the little girl was two days short of being 5 months old.

The suspected meth lab was in a pool shed. There is also a house on the property.

A criminal complaint filed by township Sgt. Richard Blake describes how a woman—not Stonewall—and her five children were living at the house. The property is owned by a trust fund in the name of one of the woman's children who is "severely disabled—mentally and physically."

The woman "had actual physical control of the property in order to provide care and shelter" for the disabled child, the complaint says.

The woman told police that Stonewall and her daughter had been at the house at least three times and each time they stayed for two to three days.

She said Stonewall would smoke meth in the woman's bedroom closet or in the shed. "When she smoked in the closet, she would leave [the baby] on her carrier seat in the bedroom, and when she smoked in the pool shed, she would leave [the baby] in the house with someone else," the woman said.

The woman also said Stonewall "only came to the house to get or smoke methamphetamine."

During the raid, police found a glassine smoking pipe with residue testing positive for meth on a closet shelf in the woman's bedroom, the complaint says.

The woman and a man described as the woman's "self-admitted boyfriend" told police they were using meth. The woman said she started using the drug about two months before the raid "due to the stress in her life that she couldn't deal with."

The boyfriend said he was aware that two of the other three people charged in the case were making meth in the shed. He said production occurred 10 to 15 times and that "they almost blew up the pool shed several times."

The woman and her boyfriend apparently were not charged in the case, court records indicate.

Stonewall was arraigned Thursday by District Judge Joseph Barner of Lower Nazareth Township on a charge of endangering the welfare of children. She was released on $7,500 unsecured bail.

The court file does not say if Stonewall's daughter is still with her or was taken from her.

Here is some information on the other three people charged in the case:

• Thomas Dee Stocker, 28, found inside the shed during the raid. He admitted to police that he was making meth in the shed, according to information in Stonewall's criminal complaint. He waived all six charges— including three felony counts—against him at a Nov. 25 preliminary hearing before Barner, online records say. Stocker, who told police he was living in the shed but is listed as having an Easton address, remains in Northampton County Prison in lieu of $85,000 bail.

• Dawn Marie Stocker, 52, identified in a previous Patch story as living at the Sixth Street property, also waived charges at a Nov. 25 preliminary hearing before Barner. She's facing only two charges—drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. She remains in county prison in lieu of $7,500 bail. Court records do not explain how Thomas Stocker and Dawn Marie Stocker are related.

• Kia Feflie, 20, of Easton, is facing the same six charges as Thomas Stocker. The boyfriend of the woman with the five children identified the two people suspected of making meth in the shed as Feflie and Thomas Stocker. She too waived the charges at a Nov. 25 preliminary hearing before Barner. She was freed from county prison after posting $10,000 bail on Nov. 18, the online records say.