Paducah PD: 2 people charged after 3 children test positive for illegal drugs

PADUCAH, Ky. (KBSI) – A couple face additional charges after police say two more of their children tested positive for drugs.

All four children in the home were removed from the home by Social Services representatives.

Paducah police arrested for Chrishell Burns, 27, and Jakyron Burnside, 27, both of Paducah.

Burns faces charges of three counts of second-degree criminal abuse (child 12 or under) and two counts of first-degree possession of a controlled substance (cocaine and methamphetamine).

Burnside faces charges of three counts of second-degree criminal abuse (child 12 or under) and two counts of first-degree possession of a controlled substance (cocaine/second offense and methamphetamine) and on a charge of trafficking in a controlled substance (carfentanil or fentanyl derivatives).

Burns and Burnside brought their two-year-old daughter to the emergency room on March 19.

Police say she was lethargic, in and out of consciousness and having trouble breathing. Narcan was administered and the child recovered consciousness. She was flown to an out-of-state hospital for further treatment.

Police say the child initially tested positive for cocaine, and further toxicology tests revealed the presence of methamphetamine, oxycodone, marijuana and fentanyl in her system, as well.

Burns and Burnside were interviewed at the hospital the following day and both denied using illegal drugs, according to police.

They told police the child must have gotten into something during a visit to a local park in the hour prior to their bringing her to the hospital. However, police say detectives obtained evidence that showed the couple and the child left for the hospital directly from their home.

Authorities obtained a search warrant for the home. Officers found 2.5 grams of cocaine in a plastic baggie, a container that field-tested positive for methamphetamine and a small amount of marijuana in the kitchen, according to Paducah police.

After the investigation began, detectives had the couple’s three other children tested for illegal drugs. Results were received late last week, and showed a 3-year-old had cocaine and marijuana in his system, and a 2-month-old had cocaine, marijuana and fentanyl in her system, according to the police department.

Information is pending on the fourth child.

Burns and Burnside were charged with two additional counts each of second-degree criminal abuse (child 12 or under).

Burns turned herself in at the McCracken County Regional Jail on Friday, March 31 and was arrested on the three warrants. She was interviewed and booked into the jail.

Paducah police drug detectives confirmed Burnside’s location when they purchased a quantity of fentanyl tablets from him at a home on Clinton Road, according to police.

Detectives served a search warrant at the home Wednesday afternoon, with help from the McCracken County Sheriff’s Department Drug Unit.

Burnside was still at the home, and was arrested on the three outstanding warrants, as well as a charge of trafficking in a controlled substance (carfentanil or fentanyl derivatives).

Burnside also was served warrants from Graves County charging him with two counts of probation violation and from McCracken County charging him with failing to
appear in court.

Detectives continue to investigate. Police say additional charges are likely.

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Paducah police searching for 2 people after 2 year old tests positive for cocaine