The parents of a baby boy found unresponsive Monday in Penacook are accused of selling methamphetamine out of the small travel camper where the family lived.
The infant later died at Concord Hospital, and his death remains under investigation. The autopsy results are not yet public; however, police said they found no initial signs of foul play.
His parents, Bradford Ross, 24, and Kayla Austin, 20, are in jail on drug and child endangerment charges. Police say the death investigation led them to find methamphetamine, amphetamine, dextroamphetamine and marijuana in the Shasta travel trailer on Penacook Street.
Concord police Lt. Tim O’Malley declined to name the infant by phone Friday, citing the ongoing death investigation. He said a 2-year-old girl also lived in the camper, but he would not say if she is the couple’s daughter. He said the girl is safe and that the state Division of Children, Youth and Families is involved.
The state medical examiner’s office performed an infant autopsy, but toxicology results are pending, and therefore police are not releasing any further information at this time. Toxicology testing could take a few weeks to months.
Ross was arraigned Friday morning in Concord’s district court, where a judge upheld bail at $50,000. Austin chose to postpone her arraignment until Monday so that the court could appoint her a public defender. Her bail was also set at $50,000.
Each face the following charges: two counts of possession of controlled drugs, one count of possession of controlled drugs with intent to distribute and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, which are related to the discovery of drugs.
Ross and Austin are prohibited from having contact with one another, although Judge M. Kristin Spath said in court Friday that she would agree to revisit the couple’s bail conditions after they retain attorneys. Ross told Spath he hoped that restriction would be lifted.
“I just feel like at this time of my son’s death the only person I have in my life is Kayla,” Ross said by video from the Merrimack County jail, where he and Austin are incarcerated.
Austin’s mother, Jennifer Austin, also addressed the court. She asked the judge to reduce bail in her daughter’s case, so the family could be together.
“Kayla’s 2-month-old suddenly passed away Monday and we’re still working on funeral arrangements,” she said.
Further, she said, her daughter is in the process of applying to colleges because she wants to be a child psychologist. She noted that her daughter does not have a criminal record.
Spath encouraged family members to return to the court Monday, when Kayla Austin will be represented by an attorney and the court will revisit bail.
Police responded Monday morning to 54 Penacook St. after receiving a report of an infant who was unconscious and not breathing. While on scene, police said they observed drug paraphernalia inside the camper, and as a result sought a search warrant.
Detectives executed that warrant Tuesday and seized approximately 25 grams of methamphetamine, which was packaged in baggies and appeared to be for sale, O’Malley said. Detectives also found scales, plastic packaging, receipts and ledgers, he said.
Austin and Ross were arrested without incident Thursday morning at the Holiday Inn on Main Street in Concord where they’d been staying.
The couple had not lived in the travel camper at 54 Penacook St. for long, O’Malley said. According to property records, a relative of Austin’s bought the single-family home there in the 1980s.
The Concord Police Department said the methamphetamine case that unfolded in Penacook this past week is concerning and sadly becoming more common.
In the past two months, there have been two instances alone of people manufacturing it, and that “adds a whole other element to the issue,” O’Malley said.
He noted there’s no evidence to suggest Ross and Austin were manufacturing the drug in Penacook.
The rise of methamphetamine use comes at a time when Concord continues to grapple with the effects of a statewide opioid crisis.
“We’ve been seeing an increase in meth and what’s very concerning about that is meth is just as, if not more, addictive than opioids,” he said. “It’s a very, very dangerous drug and it’s going to add to the stress that the city is already experiencing.”
A probable cause hearing in the case against Ross is scheduled for Aug. 11 at 8:30 a.m.