An Elizabethton couple face multiple charges after police serving a search warrant on their home say they found drugs and poor living conditions for two children who reside there.
Officers of the Elizabethton Police Department arrested Lindsay Alexandria Walker, 31, and Joseph Isaac Earl Morrell, 30, both of 611 Elm St., and charged each with child neglect, simple possession of Schedule II drugs, simple possession of Schedule VI drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.
On Feb. 25, several officers from the Police Department executed a search warrant at the home shared by Walker and Morrell.
“I took pictures of the residence before the search began,” an EPD undercover officer said in warrants. “The residence was extremely filthy and cluttered. There was trash scattered throughout.
“There were gnats swarming in several areas of the residence,” the officer added. “The kitchen counters were filthy, there were dirty dishes scattered throughout the kitchen and the floors did not seem to have been cleaned in months.”
The officer said Walker and Morrell’s children — ages 8 and 9 — live in the home with them.
“During a search of the kitchen, officers located a piece of a bent aluminum can that had burn marks and residue, a plastic bag with a crystal substance that identified as methamphetamine, and a partially burned marijuana cigarette,” the undercover officer said. “The areas that these items were located were accessible to the children.”
While searching the bedroom shared by Walker and Morrell, the undercover officer said more drug paraphernalia was found.
“The room also had a strong odor of recently burned marijuana. There was a small safe located under the bed that also had a strong odor of marijuana,” the undercover officer said. “The room did not have a door attached and was accessibly by only moving a curtain.”
Both Walker and Morrell were transported to the Carter County Detention Center.
Morrell was released from the Detention Center on Wednesday after posting a $9,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Carter County General Sessions Court on March 22.
Walker appeared in General Sessions Court on Wednesday where she was arraigned on the charges against her. Judge Keith Bowers appointed the Public Defender’s Office to represent Walker and granted a bond reduction request, setting her bond at $5,000. Walker is scheduled to return to court on March 14.