Mom and drug felon charged after Chester boy found with gun, marijuana

A Chester mother and a convicted felon staying in her apartment face felony child neglect, drug and weapons charges after police found a boy in the home with drugs and a gun.

The age of the boy found in the apartment at 126 Oak St. in Chester was not released, said Keisha Tobias, spokesperson for the Chester Police Department.

S.C. Department of Social Services agents took custody of the child after the drug raid Tuesday, Tobias said.

The boy’s mother, Demetria Shontay Williams, 34, is charged with felony child neglect, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, drug possession with intent to distribute near a park and illegal weapon possession, Tobias said.

A man in the home when police executed a search warrant also was arrested. John Calrissian Mayfield, 36, faces the same charges as Williams, and a charge of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

Williams is the mother of the boy. Police have not released the nature of the relationship between Mayfield and Williams.

Police found marijuana, the gun and cash in the apartment, said Chief Eric Williams of the Chester Police Department. The search and arrests were done after an investigation by the department’s drug and gun task force, Williams said.

When Williams was hired in late 2017, he said that ridding Chester of guns and stopping gun violence and drug dealing were top priorities.

Mayfield was sentenced to five years in prison in April 2016, after pleading guilty to Chester County felony drug and weapons charges, court records show. Mayfield was released from prison after serving less than half of that sentence.

As a convicted felon in South Carolina, Mayfield is barred from possessing guns or ammunition.