Two York County children test positive for meth, deputies say. Now their mom is in jail.
A York County mother has been arrested after two children tested positive for methamphetamine, according to police and court records.
Shirley Mae Burgess, 21, of Fort Mill, was charged Thursday with two counts of felony unlawful conduct toward a child, according to York County jail records.
Burgess was served outstanding arrest warrants by deputies, said Trent Faris, spokesman for the York County Sheriff’s Office.
A sheriff’s office incident report states deputies were asked by S.C. Department of Social Services agents in late 2020 to investigate after Burgess’s two children, a boy and a girl, tested positive for meth while living with their mother. One of the children also tested positive for cocaine, the report stated.
The children were placed into the custody of another relative, according to the incident report.
Methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system, according to the federal government National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The charge of unlawful neglect of a child is a felony in South Carolina that carries up to 10 years in prison for a conviction, state law shows. The law states that it is a crime to “place the child at unreasonable risk of harm affecting the child’s life, physical or mental health, or safety.”
Burgess remained in the York County Jail on a $6,000 bond on each charge after appearing before a York County magistrate judge Thursday morning, court records show.
