Deputies Reportedly Find Trio Doing Drugs While Following Up on Child Abuse Tip
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CAMDEN, Tenn. – Concern for two young children sent Benton County Sheriff’s deputies into an apartment in Camden. Deputies said an anonymous tip led them to the Timber Creek Apartments to check on allegations of child abuse involving a 2-year-old and a 10-month-old. Sheriff Tony King says the Sheriff’s Department immediately looked into it. “There was a lot of evidence of drug activity all through the house. They immediately went into covering up the evidence and different things. One of the children had a syringe with a needle in their hand,” he said. After entering the apartment the girls mother Shayna Casey along with Luther Cook and April Pressley were all arrested. Deputies say the three are each charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of morphine, possession of meth, child neglect and aggravated child abuse. Maurice Whitfiled says he knows the three arrested and as a father of a 2-year-old himself the allegations outrage him. “They deserve what they got coming to them,” he said. Sheriff King says both children were removed from the home and have been placed with another family. He says they were dirty but appeared to be unharmed. “It’s one of those things that hits you in the stomach, and we don’t have a lot of tolerance for,” he said. Whitfiled says he lives in the area and is shocked something like this could have happened in Camden. “Someone deserves to be punished for this. Someone needs to be punished for this,” he said. Sheriff King says Casey and Cook went quietly during the arrest but says Presley was found hiding under linens in a closet. “This kinda stirs emotion with law enforcement, when a child is in danger. And it’s not a good time to be mouthy with us,” Sheriff King said. Casey, Pressley, and Cook will be in court, June 12. Sheriff King says he hopes they receive jail time. They are currently being held in the Benton County Jail.
