MARIANNA, FL (WTXL) - A husband and wife are under arrest after deputies said they were making meth while their two young children were in the house.
According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, deputies had responded to a home at the 2300 block of Highway 73 South after receiving reports of child abuse. When they arrived, deputies said they found 32-year-old Jonathan Tipton's car running with his five-month-old child unattended inside.
After searching for Tipton for several minutes, deputies reportedly found him in what they called an excited state. He initially refused to tell deputies where his wife and four-year-old child were, but they said they were able to find 36-year-old Katie Murdock-Tipton and the child.
When they brought the two parents back for questioning, Tipton reportedly gave permission for the mobile home they were living in and his car to be searched.
Deputies said they found items consistent with the manufacturing of methamphetamine including a hot place, plastic bottles with remnants of past production, syringes, and white powder which deputies said tested positive for meth. They said most of the items were within easy reach of the children.
Tipton and Murdock-Tipton were arrested and charged with manufacturing methamphetamine with a child under 16 present, possession of methamphetamine, and child abuse.
The two children were sheltered by DCF and reportedly released to family members.
