POLICE: East Texas parents arrested after suspected fentanyl pills found inside baby’s diaper

TYLER, Texas — An East Texas mother and father were arrested early Monday morning after law enforcement say they found fentanyl pills inside their baby’s diaper. 

Dredarian Ester, 27, and Jada Speight, 22, both of Tyler, were arrested on charges of abandonment or endangerment of a child causing imminent danger, manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance between four and 200 grams and possession of marijuana between four ounces and five pounds. Their bonds have not been set yet, according to Smith County Jail records. 

According to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy pulled over Ester and Speight’s vehicle for a traffic stop at a 7-Eleven, located at 3400 Van Highway in Tyler. The 6-month-old baby was in the backseat. The deputy noticed the smell of marijuana and conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle. 

Knowing that it can be common to smuggle drugs inside a baby’s clothing, the deputy had the baby’s diaper removed and found an orange plastic bottle with blue pills that the deputy believed to be pressed fentanyl pills, the sheriff’s office said. 

Ester admitted to placing the pills into the diaper, the SCSO said. The deputy did also find the suspected marijuana. Both Ester and Speight were then arrested.