Utah mom charged with feeding 3-year-old marijuana butter

Ravyn Lydia Hargrave, 21, was charged Feb. 18, 2020, in 4th District Court with two counts of marijuana distribution and two counts of child endangerment after Payson police say she fed her 3-year-old daughter butter laced with THC to see its effects on her and others. | Utah County Jail

PAYSON — Criminal charges have been filed against a woman who prosecutors say was feeding butter laced with THC to her 3-year-old daughter.

The discovery was made while Payson police were responding to a call of a disturbance, which was made by the mother who was eventually arrested. The call also led to the arrest of a man found in the same house who was wanted in connection with a hate crime assault on a black Latter-day Saint missionary, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Ravyn Lydia Hargrave, 21, of Eugene, Oregon, was charged Feb. 18 in 4th District Court with two counts of marijuana distribution, a second-degree felony; two counts of child endangerment, a third-degree felony; drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors.

On Feb. 13, Payson police responded to a report of a fight in progress. Hargrave was the one who called police to report several males fighting in the house, according to charging documents. Three of the men were also slashing tires on a car, police say.

Officers arrived to find six adults, a 16-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl. One of those men — and one of the three accused of slashing tires — was Sebastian Francis West, 19, of Payson, who was wanted at that time as part of the investigation into an assault on a black missionary from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Jan. 28, according to the warrant.

West was arrested in connection with the alleged hate crime. He, along with his brother, Malachi Bay West, 20, and Nathan W. Thomas, 19, of Santaquin, were later charged in 4th District Court with assault, a third-degree felony.

When police entered the house to talk to Hargrave, multiple items of drug paraphernalia were spotted out in the open, according to a police affidavit, prompting officers to obtain a search warrant and conduct a thorough search of the residence.

“Multiple items of drug paraphernalia were discovered such as pipes, bongs, grinders and a scale. Drug paraphernalia, knives and sword were found on the floor, in the room and with the toys of a 3-year old child that was present when officers made entry,” according to charging documents.

Police further described the weapons as “soiled knives and a sword easily accessible to the 3-year-old. ... The sword was found on top of the 3-year-old’s toys,” the police affidavit states.

In the refrigerator, detectives found what Hargrave allegedly described as “marijuana butter.”

“Defendant admitted that the paraphernalia and a marijuana ‘butter’ found in the residence were hers, that she had manufactured the ‘butter’ and that she had been administering the marijuana to the 3-year old child and a 16-year-old juvenile in the home as an experiment on levels of THC,” charging documents state.

Hargrave further explained, according to the affidavit, that she “experimented with different levels of THC in the butter and the effects of it on herself and her 3-year-old daughter. ... She also stated she feeds the product to other people living inside the residence.”

The Division of Child and Family Services said it would take custody of the 3-year-old, according to the affidavit. Hargrave’s next court hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/32QCPhC