An 11-month-old baby is in the care of Child Protective Services (CPS) and the mother in custody after deputies responded to the scene of a domestic dispute that involved the child.
At about 5:50 p.m. Nov. 1, Monongalia County Sheriff’s Deputy Logan Thompson arrived at a residence on Dorsey Avenue in Morgantown in response to reports of a physical domestic dispute at the home, the criminal complaint said.
Once on scene, the deputy met with a male who stated he and his girlfriend, Bobby Ann Gray, 34, of Morgantown, had been drinking and “began to argue because [she] had dropped their 11-month-old daughter” on the porch of the residence.
The complaint said the man also told the officer that Gray had struck him in the left side of the face prior to taking the child and heading through the woods in the direction of her residence on Dorsey Lane.
Thompson reported finding Gray and the baby on the rail-trail near her residence.
The deputy said they had reason to believe Gray was under the influence of alcohol “due to her difficulty standing as she swayed back and forth, often stumbling.” Gray allegedly also had an odor of alcohol on her breath and slurred speech.
According to the complaint, Gray agreed to a breathalyzer test which showed a blood alcohol content of 0.178% and openly stated to Thompson that she had also consumed marijuana.
Thompson wrote in the report that Gray “was to such a level of intoxication that she was not able to comprehend her own statements, forgetting what she had just told deputies.”
The child, the deputy noted, “was dressed in a light-weight, short-sleeved shirt with pants, and no socks or shoes,” exposed to the elements on a cool, 58-degree day.
In the complaint, the officer also said that while Gray was talking to them she was holding the baby and often swayed back and forth, which also caused the child to sway. This created a “reasonable fear she was going to drop [the baby].”
Deputies contacted CPS who removed the 11-month-old from Gray and are conducting an investigation to determine placement for the child.
Gray was taken into custody and pleaded not guilty to one count of gross child neglect creating risk of injury at an arraignment on Nov. 2.
A preliminary hearing for the case is scheduled in Monongalia County Magistrate Court on Nov. 10. Gray is currently being held on $5,000 bond at North Central Regional Jail.
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