MITCHELL – A domestic fight landed a Mitchell woman behind bars on alcohol and neglect charges.
According to an affidavit for probable cause filed by Officer Thomas Porter of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, officers were assisting the Mitchell Police Department at the Persimmon Park Apartments near the main office regarding a domestic situation. Officer Porter arrived to find Mitchell Police officers speaking with two separate parties.
Officer Jordan Taylor was speaking with a male who had reported the domestic via 911. The male stated he was a passenger in a black Chevrolet Trax, driven by 36-year-old Shawna Morris, and believed Morris was intoxicated while he and Morris’s 4-year-old child were in the vehicle. The male passenger claimed Morris refused to pull over and continued to drive at a very high rate of speed, estimating they were traveling around 100 mph on State Road 37. He also believed she had been drinking alcoholic beverages earlier that day at the Bedford Pool.
Officer Porter spoke with Morris, who admitted to having a “99 shooter about an hour ago.” Officer Porter then requested and was granted permission by Mitchell Police Officer Jordan Taylor to perform Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) on Morris, taking over the OWI investigation. At the same time, Officer Taylor focused on the domestic situation.
Morris failed the field sobriety tests. A portable breath test indicated the presence of alcohol on her breath. After being read her Implied Consent rights, Morris agreed to take a chemical test. Officer Porter transported Morris to the Lawrence County Jail, where a Certified Breath Test showed an alcohol reading of 0.121 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.
During a search in Morris’s purple backpack, police found two alcoholic containers: a 50 ML “99 Peppermint shooter” bottle and a 375 ML bottle of Crystal Palace Deluxe Vodka.
Morris is facing charges of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, two counts of OWI endangerment, and neglect of a dependent.
All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This article is based on the information provided in the Probable Cause Affidavit and does not represent a final determination of guilt or innocence.
