McCleney.jpg

Leslie Michele McCleney

(Brookside Police )

A 28-year-old pregnant woman is behind bars today after lawmen found her passed out from a heroin overdose earlier this week in Jefferson County.

Leslie Michele McCleney is charged with child endangerment and several other crimes. She was taken into custody this morning after Brookside police investigators obtained formal warrants against her and one of her associates.

Brookside police Chief Jason Springfield said officers on Monday responded to the corner of Cherry Avenue and Old Cherry Avenue on a report of drug activity. As officers were en route to the scene, they spotted a vehicle speeding away and then run a stop sign.

Police conducted a traffic stop and observed that the driver - 36-year-old William Donald Cossey - appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance. The passenger - McCleney - appeared to be dead, the chief said. Both are from Mt. Olive.

William Donald Cossey

McCleney, however, was alive and removed from the vehicle. Springfield said she was eight months pregnant and had overdosed on heroin. Cossey, he said, was under the influence of methamphetamine.

McCleney was taken by paramedics to the hospital. Cossey was taken into custody and released.

Both were arrested again today after police obtained the formal warrants against them. In addition to child endangerment, McCleney is charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and public intoxication. Her bonds total $77,500.

Cossey is charged with DUI, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance. His bonds total $7,500.

Springfield thanked the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office for their help in the investigation.

Authorities said the baby is still alive, but doctors haven't determined the condition.

"It is always a tragedy when a mother chooses an addiction over the life of a child, and in this case, the life of an unborn child,'' Springfield said. "We would ask that you pray for the safety and health of the unborn child. The drug problem is an epidemic."

Earlier this month, Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Bill Veitch announced a chemical endangerment of a child charge against 23-year-old Raven West. The Pleasant Grove woman was arrested earlier this year after her first baby - a girl - tested positive for drugs. Her son was born dead Oct. 9 at Baptist Princeton Medical Center, and she now faces charges again.

Veitch just last month argued that another Pleasant Grove mother, Alex Laird, should remain behind bars until the birth of her baby for fear of this very same thing happening. Laird is pregnant again after her first daughter was born addicted to heroin and had to spend a month in the Intensive Care Unit. Jefferson County Judge David Hobdy agreed with prosecutors and police and ordered her held, but Laird's doctors at UAB Hospital decided to keep her there for the duration rather than send her back to jail.