Webster Parish Sheriff's deputies arrested a 26-year-old woman earlier this month after she allegedly left her children with a neighbor she barely knew for days without making contact. The woman, a Doyline resident named Melissa Procell, is now in jail, and her children are in the custody of Child Protective Services.
Sheriff's detective Lieutenant Scott Tucker said Procell took her children to the bus stop for school, and asked a woman there to get her children off the school bus later that day. Procell told the neighbor, whom she didn't know well, that she would pick up the kids, ages 6 and 8, from her house later. Tucker said Procell didn't even know the neighbor's last name.
Procell was charged with two counts of child desertion. The case is one of the last Lt. Tucker was on, as he had officially announced his retirement from the Pelham Police Department that same week.
Procell's neighbor picked up the children from the bus stop, and when Procell never showed up to retrieve her kids later that night, the woman fed the children, bathed them and put them to sleep. The next morning, she took them back to school and alerted the sheriff's department.
Incidentally, sheriff's deputies had had more contact with Procell in the previous 24 hours than did her neighbor and children. The deputies had made contact with Procell twice throughout the night before, but she gave them false names that didn't come up with any warrants. Tucker said that had she given her real name, it would have shown probation violations on record. Even as she wandered without them for several days, Procell never brought her children up when talking with deputies.
Procell was missing for several days without any attempted contact with her children or the neighbor who was caring for them. Later, when Lt. Tucker and detective Sergeant Tommy Kemp questioned Procell, she told them she knew where her children were and that they were safe.
Also during questioning, Procell disclosed to the deputies that she needed help for addictions to Xanax, an anti-anxiety and anti-depressant, and Lortab, a prescription painkiller that can be used to treat physical pain such as that a patient experiences after surgery, or emotional pain and depression. Xanax, a benzodiazepine drug, becomes habit-forming when patients no longer take it for anxiety caused by external factors but for anxiety caused by not taking the drug. Lortab is an opiate, which can have the same consequences if patients begin taking larger doses to treat the pain of withdrawal.
In further conversations with the detectives, Procell admitted to buying the drugs on the street illegally recently. It was unclear at the time whether she had bought the drugs during the period when her children were in the care of her neighbor woman.
Throughout his career with the Pelham Police Department, Lt. Scott Tucker was the face of the force. He was known for being helpful with media outlets and his professionalism and commitment to his position while on the job. He often worked every night during the week. Tucker made headlines on several online gaming websites when he busted an unauthorized organized poker tournament that involved players from several Alabama counties and thousands of dollars in bets.
Sheriff's detective Lieutenant Scott Tucker said Procell took her children to the bus stop for school, and asked a woman there to get her children off the school bus later that day. Procell told the neighbor, whom she didn't know well, that she would pick up the kids, ages 6 and 8, from her house later. Tucker said Procell didn't even know the neighbor's last name.
Procell was charged with two counts of child desertion. The case is one of the last Lt. Tucker was on, as he had officially announced his retirement from the Pelham Police Department that same week.
Procell's neighbor picked up the children from the bus stop, and when Procell never showed up to retrieve her kids later that night, the woman fed the children, bathed them and put them to sleep. The next morning, she took them back to school and alerted the sheriff's department.
Incidentally, sheriff's deputies had had more contact with Procell in the previous 24 hours than did her neighbor and children. The deputies had made contact with Procell twice throughout the night before, but she gave them false names that didn't come up with any warrants. Tucker said that had she given her real name, it would have shown probation violations on record. Even as she wandered without them for several days, Procell never brought her children up when talking with deputies.
Procell was missing for several days without any attempted contact with her children or the neighbor who was caring for them. Later, when Lt. Tucker and detective Sergeant Tommy Kemp questioned Procell, she told them she knew where her children were and that they were safe.
Also during questioning, Procell disclosed to the deputies that she needed help for addictions to Xanax, an anti-anxiety and anti-depressant, and Lortab, a prescription painkiller that can be used to treat physical pain such as that a patient experiences after surgery, or emotional pain and depression. Xanax, a benzodiazepine drug, becomes habit-forming when patients no longer take it for anxiety caused by external factors but for anxiety caused by not taking the drug. Lortab is an opiate, which can have the same consequences if patients begin taking larger doses to treat the pain of withdrawal.
In further conversations with the detectives, Procell admitted to buying the drugs on the street illegally recently. It was unclear at the time whether she had bought the drugs during the period when her children were in the care of her neighbor woman.
Throughout his career with the Pelham Police Department, Lt. Scott Tucker was the face of the force. He was known for being helpful with media outlets and his professionalism and commitment to his position while on the job. He often worked every night during the week. Tucker made headlines on several online gaming websites when he busted an unauthorized organized poker tournament that involved players from several Alabama counties and thousands of dollars in bets.
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http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/2011/08/02/ramirez-sentenced-to-20-years-for-manslaughter/
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