A local woman was arrested on felony warrants Friday after an investigation into her 5-month-old son being treated last month for alcohol poisoning while under her care.
Jasmine Shay Knotts, 27, who lists a Hickory Street address, was taken into custody shortly before 4:30 p.m. in the 4300 block of Central Avenue on felony charges of second-degree domestic battery, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, punishable by up to six years, and she also had two misdemeanor warrants for failure to appear.
Knotts was being held on a $37,000 bond and was set to appear Monday in Garland County District Court. According to court records, Knotts lists no prior felony history, but was convicted on July 11, 2019, of misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle and was sentenced to one year in jail, all suspended, and six months' supervised probation.
According to the probable cause affidavit on Friday's arrest, on March 21, around 2 p.m., Knotts reportedly retrieved three of her children from the home of a friend who had been watching them overnight.
Around 5 p.m. that day, Knotts reportedly dropped two of her children off at a friend's house on Calli Street "to get their hair braided." She then took her 5-month-old and 2-year-old to a friend's house on 6th Street where Knotts reportedly admits she smoked half a blunt of marijuana.
Around 8 p.m., she went back to her home on Hickory Street with the 5-month-old. Once at her apartment, Knotts reportedly took a hydrocodone and then prepared a 6-ounce bottle for the baby and fed him. She noted he drank approximately 2 ounces and then slept for 30 minutes.
She said she noticed he was awake and "acting strangely," and when she picked him up his body "went limp." She then transported him to National Park Medical Center to be checked out.
Hospital lab results reportedly showed the baby had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.429%, so he was transported to Arkansas Children's Hospital for treatment. The doctor at Children's reportedly stated in her report, "It is not possible to determine the precise time of the alcohol ingestion, but the sudden onset of altered mental status at 9 p.m. is not consistent with an ingestion eight hours earlier."
A search warrant was obtained for the Hickory Street residence the next day, on March 22, and during the search, Hot Springs police Detective Christopher McGlone allegedly observed a bottle of isopropyl alcohol "between two cans of baby formula." He also reportedly located numerous medications including a bottle of hydrocodone in the apartment.
All the items were seized and sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for analysis. After further investigation, the warrants for Knotts were issued on Thursday.